Call Me V
by MetaCrisisDR
Summary: Beacon Academy: the most prestigious school in all of Remnant. But something is a bit different this year, and that something is a tattooed boy with a cane for a weapon that enjoys quoting poetry. Beacon's in for a bit of a show. First story, so writing migbt be a bit bad in some places.
1. Chapter 1: Welcome to Beacon

It's the beginning of the school year again. Beacon Academy was receiving its annual influx of freshman who would soon go on to train and become the defenders of the world. While many of the new students were gaping in awe at the tall spires of the academy's towers or talking with their friends, one stood apart from the others. Rather than interact with his fellows, he stood away in a dark corner of the courtyard reading a book in one hand, holding a cane in the other.

He was tall and slender, with dark green eyes. His hair was black and chin-length, partially obscuring his left eye. What parts of his upper body that weren't covered by his sleeveless leather jacket were covered in tattoos. He wore black pants that had a chain of silver skulls hanging on the right side, and unlike many of the students mingling about, he had black sandals for footwear. He had a single fingerless glove on his right hand, in which he held a silver cane; in his left, he held a golden-embroidered book with a single numeral on the cover: "V."

The boy's peaceful reading was interrupted by a large explosion in the middle of the courtyard.

Despite the spectacle, he simply glanced up from his book and found there were two girls in the middle of the dust cloud from the explosion; the likely source rolled up to his feet in the form of a vial of red Dust.

"I suppose that's as good a way as any to make an impression," the boy smiled to himself, closing his book and picking up the vial with the familiar Schnee Dust company logo engraved upon it.

"This isn't your ordinary combat school. It's not just sparring and practice, you know! We're here to fight monsters, so... watch where you're going!" he heard the first girl scold the second as he approached. She had ice blue eyes, pale skin, white hair, heels, and a white "combat skirt" as they were supposedly called.

"Hey, I said I was sorry princess!" shouted the other girl who was dressed in a red hood and cape, black and red combat skirt, and had a large mechanism on her back that was likely her weapon.

"I believe she is an 'heiress' actually," the black haired boy interrupted, "In fact, I believe she's set to inherit the company from her father. Weiss Schnee I presume."

"Finally! Some recognition!" Weiss said confidently with a smirk on her face.

"I've also heard your father's company has had some issues with controversial labor tactics and a couple questionable business partners," the boy smugly replied.

"Wha—How dare—The nerve of...Ugh!"

Weiss grabbed the vial of Dust from the boy's hand and stormed off with her luggage, not looking back.

"I promise I'll make it up to you!" the girl with the red hood shouted after her retreating figure. She promptly collapsed on her back groaning as V looked on, "Welcome to Beacon..."

Another new student walked up, this one being a boy with blonde hair and blue eyes. He had a few pieces of armor on his upper body, partially covering a black hoodie.

"Hey...I'm Jaune," he said holding out his hand.

"Ruby," said the girl in red, "Weren't you the guy who threw up on the ship?"

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

The three students walked down a separate path on the school grounds. While Ruby and Jaune were conversing, the black-haired boy continued to read his book.

"All I'm saying is that motion sickness is a much more common problem than people let on!" Jaune finished explaining to his new friends.

"I'm sorry! Vomit Boy was just the first thing that came to mind!" Ruby laughed.

"Of yeah? What if I called you Crater Face?" Jaune jokingly referred to the earlier incident.

"Hey, that explosion was an accident!"

"Well, the name's Jaune Arc! Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue - ladies love it!"

"Do they?"

"They will! Well, I-I hope they will. My mom always says that... Never mind."

In response to Jaune's comment, the third teen chuckled, leading the others to turn to him.

"So...I didn't catch your name earlier," Jaune asked.

"I have no name," said the boy, reading his book, "I am but two days old."

He paused for a moment. Jaune and Ruby glanced at each other.

"Are...you being—"

"I'm just kidding," V interrupted, snapping his book shut and turning towards the others, "Call me V."

"Well, V...nice to meet you! And thanks for helping me earlier!" Ruby said, extending her hand.

"Pleasure," V tucked his book into his belt, shaking her hand.

The three stood in the same spot, an awkward silence falling over them.

"Soooo... I got this thing!" Ruby broke the silence, taking out the device on her back. It folded out, making a large scythe that stabbed into the ground.

"Woah! Is that a scythe?" Jaune exclaimed in surprise.

"It's also a customizable high-impact sniper rifle!"

"What?"

"It's also a gun," V explained.

"Oh, that's cool."

"So, what've you got?"

"Oh, I...uh...got this sword! And a shield too!" Jaune awkwardly drew his sword from the sheathe, the latter expanding to form a shield in his left hand.

"So what do they do?" Ruby asked.

"Errrr...well, the shield gets smaller, so I can just put it away if I get tired of carrying it."

"But it would just weigh the same anyway" V pointed out.

"Yeah, I guess so..." Jaune muttered, a bit defeated.

"What do you have V?"

"Just this cane," he emphasized it by tapping it twice on the ground.

"That's it?"

"Well, I do have some tricks up my non-existent sleeves, but you'll have to have patience: they'll be revealed in time," he explained with a smirk.

There was another pause in conversation V began to walk again, prompting Ruby and Jaune to follow him.

"So why'd you help me out back there? In the courtyard?" Ruby asked V.

""He who would do good to another must do it in Minute Particulars: General Good is the plea of the scoundrel, hypocrite, and flatterer,"" V quoted, once again reading his book.

Ruby and Jaune had blank looks on their faces, trying to decipher what he just said.

V simply explained, "There's no reason not to help other people. Besides, we're all new here, might as well try to make some friends."

"Yeah! My mom always said "Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet!" Jaune chimed in.

"Do you always like to share the words of wisdom of your mother?" V inquired jokingly.

"Uh—well I...Um..."

"Hmmm," Ruby looked around, "Hey, where are we going?"

"Oh, I don't know! I was following you two. Y-You think there might be a directory? Maybe a food court? Some kind of recognizable landmark?"

V merely chuckled at his companions' plight, "Worry not: I've been here quite often. The amphitheater is that way."

The black haired teen pointed off in another direction toward a large building with an open roof that had arches over it. Intricate designs were on the front with two large, light blue windows on the sides of an open door.

"Come, let us make haste to our destination," V once again started off, Ruby and Jaune in tow.


	2. Chapter 2: The First Step

**A/N: Hello Peoples! Glad you've decided to continue reading my story. I haven't written on this site in a while, but I started writting this on Wattpad and thought "Oh right, I have an account on ." So if you want, you can check this story out on Wattpad too (I'm currently working on copying the chapters over). Also, just a heads up, V is not Vergil because I found it too hard to work it into the story and also I love V to much to have him die. Also, I dont want to spoil DMC 5 even though it's been out for about two weeks at the time of writing this. Anywho, let's get this show on the road!**

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

The trio walked into the amphitheater. The room was already filled to the brim with new students. Thankfully, the Headmaster hadn't taken to the stage to speak yet.

"Ruby, over here! I saved you a spot!" a blonde haired girl shouted from the middle of the crowd

"Oh! Hey, I-I gotta go! I'll see you after the ceremony!" Ruby left her new friends to join the blonde.

"Hey, wait!" Jaune sighed as she left, "Ah, great. Where am I supposed to find another nice, quirky girl to talk to?"

"Relax Jaune, there are plenty of fish in the sea," V consoled him, clapping his shoulder before walking off into the crowd himself.

V made his way to the opposite side of the amphitheater, sitting down and opening his book again. As he read, he noticed someone sit down next to him. V didn't think much of it and simply continued to read. However, his brief moment of peace was cut off by a man clearing his throat. He looked up to see Ozpin, in front of the microphone.

"I'll... keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

After a woman named Glynda Goodwitch directed them to go to the ballroom for sleeping arrangements, V stood up and closed his book. He finally glanced over to his reading companion and found a girl dressed in black and white with a black bow on her head, her yellow eyes scanning a book she held in her hands. Rather than disturb her own reading, he simply turned to follow the crowd being shepherded outside.

He didn't turn around, but if he had, he would have seen the girl looking after his retreating figure.

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

V walked into the hall after getting changed into some nightwear. He had a pair of black and grey flannel pants with a sleeveless black shirt on. Rather than go directly to his sleeping mat, he instead sat at the edge of the room and began to read again. Soon after, he found the girl from before sitting next to him as well.

"I don't often find people who like literature as much as I do," V commented, finally breaking the small silence between them. The girl simply remained quiet.

"My name is V," he tried again, "And you are?"

"Blake."

The two went back to silence.

"What book are you reading?"

"It's about a man who has two souls, each fighting for control of his own body."

"Classic trope. _Jekyll and Hyde_, perhaps. Or maybe _The Host_?"

"You certainly know a lot about books. What are you reading?"

V gave a small smile as he turned over to the cover of the book which contained the same letter he used as a name, "Just a collection of poetry is all. My father gave it to me soon after I learned to read."

"Maybe sometime you could give me more recommendations for books," he turned to his reading partner.

"Maybe," Blake said fairly blankly, but her small smile betrayed her emotions. V would have kept talking, but something caught his attention.

_I swear I just saw that bow twitch. _

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

(Meanwhile)

"It's like a big slumber party!" Yang exclaimed before crashing next to her sister Ruby. Ruby simply frowned and kept writing her letter.

"I don't think Dad would approve of all the boys, though," Ruby replied, not looking up.

"I know I do!" Yang purred as she looked over several muscular, shirtless boys. Then her eyes fell on Jaune in a set of sky blue footie pajamas and she immediately grimaced, turning back to Ruby. "So, what's that you're writing?"

"It's just a letter to the gang back at Signal. I promised to tell them all about how things at Beacon are going..."

"Awwww, that's so cuuuuute!" For that comment, Yang received a pillow in the face.

"Shut up! I didn't get to take my friends with me to school! It's weird not knowing anyone here!"

"Well, what about Jaune? He's...nice...I guess. And that V guy you said helped you guys out earlier. See, that's plus two friends! That's a two hundred percent increase!"

"Yeah, but then Weiss counts as a negative friend, so subtract one and you get one friend," groaned Ruby as she turned onto her back.

"Negative friends aren't a thing. You just made two friends and one enemy!" Yang got smacked with another pillow. "Look, it's only been one day. Trust me, you'll make all kinds of friends; you just haven't met them yet!"

The two girls looked over to the side wall to see Blake and V taking to one another for a bit before reading.

"Is that V?" Yang asked.

"Yeah..."

"And do you know the girl with him?"

"No, I—"

"Well, time to make another friend little sister!" Yang exclaimed, grabbing Ruby and dragging her over to the pair despite the girl's protests. Blake and V looked up to see the two approaching. V chuckled at the sisters' antics while Blake went back to reading her novel.

"Hellooooo~" Yang said in a sing-song voice as she brought Ruby upright.

"Well, Ruby, glad to see you're making friends," V commented.

"Actually, I'm her older sister, but we wanted to come by and meet your friend!"

Blake looked up again, "Aren't you the girl that exploded?"

"Yeah...my name's Ruby! But you can call me Crater Fa—actually, forget that last part," Ruby smiled despite clearly embarrassing herself.

"Okay..." Blake responded, returning to reading.

"As you can see, Blake here isn't always one for conversation with strangers," V said, thumbing through his book, murmuring to himself, ""Silence, what is it, if not the absence of sound, of music, and words that could have been said but were not...""

"That's...nice," Yang responded to V's quoting, "Well, Blake, I'm Yang, Ruby's sister! I...like your bow..."

"Thanks," Blake said, now a bit irritated.

"It goes great with your...pajamas!"

"Right..."

"Nice night, don't you think?"

"Yes - it's lovely! Almost as lovely as this book!" Blake said, "That I will continue to read," the sisters continued to not get the hint, "As soon as you leave!"

"What's it about?" Ruby asked.

"Well... it's about a man with two souls, each trying to take control over his body."

"Oh, yeah...that's _really _lovely!" Yang sarcastically remarked.

Ruby ignored her sister's comment and continued, "I love books. Yang used to read to me every night before bed. Stories of heroes and monsters...they're one of the reasons I want to be a Huntress!"

"And why is that? Hoping you'll live happily ever after?"

"Well, I'm hoping we all will. As a girl, I wanted to be just like those heroes in the books...someone who fought for what was right, and protected people who couldn't protect themselves!"

"That's very ambitious for a young girl such as yourself," V commented, not looking up from his book, "But the world doesn't always give everything fairy-tale happy endings"

"Well, that's why we're here! To make it better."

_Quite an optimistic on_e, thought V.

"Awww, I'm so proud of my baby sister!" Yang exclaimed, picking up Ruby in a bear hug.

"Hey! Get off of me!" Ruby tried to struggle free. The situation then devolved into a dust cloud of fighting, kicking, and wrestling as the sisters playfully fought.

Their fighting was interrupted when a familiar, snobby voice rang out from a girl dressed in white approaching them complaining, "What in the world is going on over here?! Don't you realize some of us are trying to sleep?"

_Here we go..._ V rolled his eyes as he stood up and slunk away before the fireworks show. _Best to leave before I have to deal with a cat-fight that makes me lose sleep. _

"Oh, not you again!" Yang and Weiss shouted simultaneously, not noticing the tattooed boy slip from their sight.

"Shh! Guys, she's right! People are trying to sleep!" Ruby tried to diffuse the situation

"Oh, now you're on my side!" Weiss snapped.

"I was always on your side!"

"Yeah, what's your problem with my sister? She's only trying to be nice!" Yang butted in.

"She's a hazard to my health!"

Blake sighed as she picked up the candle next to her, the only source of light left on in the room, and blew it out, covering everyone in darkness.

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

The next morning, V was sitting on one of the benches in the locker room, reading his book once again. As everyone was zipping around getting ready, V was already finished preparing. Unlike many teens his age, he didn't much mind waking up early.

_After all, "The early bird gets the worm."_

"Ridiculous! There's no way I put my stuff in locker 636! I would have remembered having to count that high!" he heard Jaune complain as he walked by. V closed his book before getting up.

_I suppose now is a good a time as any to know who could be my future teammates_.

As V turned the corner to follow Jaune, he found Weiss Schnee conversing with none other than Pyrrha Nikos, the four time winner of the Mistral Regional Tournament herself.

_Wouldn't surprise me that someone like Weiss that thinks so highly of themself would only try to make friends with the best of the best. _

"Well...I was thinking maybe we could be on a team together," Weiss proposed to Pyrrha.

"Well, that sounds grand!" the "Invincible Girl" answered.

Weiss suddenly turned away, appearing to have an evil grin on her face.

"Weiss, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you're having an internal soliloquy of your dastardly plans for the future given that look," V humorously said.

"I've absolutely no idea what you're talking about," Weiss profusely denied, crossing her arms and turning her nose up.

_Sure you don't..._

"You know what else is great? Me. Jaune Arc. Nice to meet you," the blonde knight butted in to introduce himself to Weiss.

"You again?" Weiss sighed exasperatedly.

Pyrrha was more kind with her response, simply saying, "Nice to meet you, Jaune!"

"Yeah, yeah," Jaune ignored Pyrrha and immediately tried to talk to Weiss again, "So, Weiss, couldn't help but overhear your fondness of me the other day."

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!"

"Don't worry! No need to be embarrassed! So, I'm sure you've been hearing rumors about teams! I was thinking you and me would make a good one! What do you say?"

Pyrrha butted in, "Actually, I think the teams are comprised of four students each, so—"

"Well, hot stuff, play your cards right and maybe you could join up with the winning team," Jaune cut her off with a slight pose.

"Jaune, is it?" Weiss separates the two, "Do you have any idea who you're talking to?"

"Not in the slightest, snow angel."

"This is Pyrrha."

"Hello again!"

"Pyrrha graduated top of her class at Sanctum, and won the Mistral Regional Tournament four years in a row!"

"What?"

"I suppose we should use a metric Jaune would actually understand," V finally spoke up again, "She's on the front of almost every Pumpkin Pete's cereal box."

Jaune gasped, "That's you?! But they only do that for star athletes and cartoon characters!"

"So, after hearing all of this, do you really think you're in a position to ask her to be on your team?" Weiss asked.

"Now, now, Weiss, let's not make the poor lad feel bad about himself," V reassured.

"Well Jaune, I actually think you'd make a great leader!" Pyrrha chimed in.

"D'oh, stop it!" Jaune said bashfully.

"Seriously, please stop it, both of you. This kind of behavior should not be encouraged!" Weiss interjected.

"Sounds like Pyrrha and V are on board for Team Jaune. Spots are filling up quick! Now, I'm not supposed to do this, but maybe I could pull some strings, find a place for you. What do you say?" Jaune said, once again confident and leaning a little too close to Weiss

"All right, that's a bit too close! Pyrrha, a little help, please?!"

Apparently, Pyrrha's idea of help was throwing a spear at Jaune, pinning him by his hoodie to a locker.

"I'm sorry!" Pyrrha called out to the incapacitated boy.

"That's a little bit...extreme," V commented with a raised brow.

An announcement came over the intercom, breaking the first-years out of their thoughts: _**Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation? Again, all first-year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately.**_

Weiss passed Jaune as he hangs from the wall of a locker on her way out. Pyrrha followed her, grabbing her spear and dropping Jaune to the ground.

"It was nice meeting you!" Pyrrha grinned despite Jayne's predicament.

Jaune just slumped against the locker, muttering, "Likewise..."

"Seems you're having a bit of trouble there Casanova," V approached as Yang and Ruby walked away from their own lockers.

"I don't understand. My dad said all women look for is confidence! Where did I go wrong?" he lamented as V helped him off the floor

""Snow Angel" probably wasn't the best start," Yang replied.

"You'll get her next time Romeo," V reassured the blonde knight as the four of them walked out of the locker room towards the cliffs where they were to be tested.

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

The students assembled on a cliff overlooking an expansive forest. Each of them stood on an oddly placed tile. Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch stood closer to the edge of the cliff, facing the students.

"For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest," Ozpin began.

"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of "teams,"" his assistant continued, "Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates... today."

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well. That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

_Wonderful. Glad you're using such a paradoxical system, _V thought. He was pretty sure he heard some students cry out in surprise and disappointment.

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest," Ozpin continued, "You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path... or you will die."

_How amazingly morbid. _

"You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"

"Yeah, um, sir?" Jaune raised his hand.

"Good!" Oz ignored Jayne's inquiry, "Now, take your positions."

All the students readied themselves on their platform except Jaune, who still held his hand up.

"So are we going to be dropped off or something?" Jaune asked.

"No, you will be falling," Oz replied.

"Are you giving us parachutes?"

"No, you will be using your own landing strategy."

"So what exactly is a landing strateg**YYYYYYYY**!" Jaune was cut off as the tiles sprang forward, launching the students off of the cliff towards the forest.

Ozpin simply took a sip of his coffee as he watched them fall toward the trees.

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

V was on high alert. After the sudden launch, his mind immediately began racing. Thankfully, he did have a leg up compared to the other students when aerial movement was involved. V pointed his cane forward, shouting "Griffon!" A dark cloud shot forward, forming a large, black bird with blue accents.

"I gotcha boss," it said as it grabbed its master's cane, gliding gently toward a clearing in the trees. As V's feet touched the ground, Griffon let go of the cane. The teen dusted himself off as he regained his composure and caught his breath.

"So boss, what's the plan?" Griffon asked, perching on V's outstretched arm.

"Fly ahead, see if you can find the ruins. Return to me and tell me what you discover. I'll call you back earlier if I get into trouble," V ordered. With a nod, the large bird took off, leaving V alone in the middle of a Grimm infested forest.

_Well, no point in standing around_, he thought, beginning to walk off into the shadow of the trees.


	3. Chapter 3: Players and Pieces

"The last pair has been formed, sir," Glyna reported to Ozpin, watching the students' progress on her monitor, "Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren. Poor boy... I can't possibly imagine those two getting along. Still, he's probably better off than Miss Nikos."

Ozpin simply remained silent, staring at his own screen, his eyes focusing on a particular student making his way through the Emerald Forest.

"I don't care what his transcripts say. That Jaune fellow is not ready for this level of combat," Glynda continued, "And as for V, he still hasn't found a partner."

"I think you worry too much Glynda. Have a little faith in them," Ozpin responded.

"Anyway, at their current pace, they should reach the temple within just a few minutes. Speaking of which, what did you use as relics this year? Professor Ozpin?"

Ozpin didn't answer as his gaze now focused on Ruby and her fairly unwilling partner, Weiss.

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

V continued his trek through the trees; he was seemingly no closer to his destination with forest in every direction and no sign of a clearing besides the one he had landed in.

_I'm not even entirely sure where I'm going_, he thought. His walking was stopped when Griffon suddenly dive bombed through the canopy and landed in front of him.

"Well, that was quick. What news do you bring?"

"I got some good news: the ruins are about three quarters of a mile that way," Griffon indicated with his head towards V's left.

"Then I guess we keep going. But often times, good news is not without bad news..."

"It's not super bad news, but there's a small pack of a dozen Beowolves about to surround you."

V merely chuckled, "Good. At least I'm finally meeting some form of opposition."

"Okay, just remember this Shakespeare: you and I both like to exist," Griffon advised, "So get rid of these guys quick, 'cause killing them ain't my shtick!"

As Griffon finished his sentence, V looked into the tree line and found twelve pairs of red eyes staring back at him. The human stood up a little straighter, pointing the tip of his cane forward like a sword.

"Don't worry, I'll be gentle."

**(Play Crimson Cloud—Devil May Cry 5 OST)**

One of the Beowolves leapt from the shadows towards V, claws outstretched and jaws open to tear into him. V simply smiled as a dark cloud burst from his cane, this one forming a large, black panther with red eyes that latched onto the Beowolf's throat with its teeth, tearing into it and tossing it back towards V who promptly stabbed through its head with his cane, quipping, "Pardon me."

As the corpse began to disintegrate, the dead Grimm's packmates stalked around, encircling the Summoner.

"Gouge 'em, Shadow," V commanded, and the panther obeyed. A large spike shot forward and implied a Beowolf mid-leap, allowing V to run up the spike and end the Grimm's life similarly to the first. Three more Beowolves charged on the ground in an attempt to to take out Shadow, but Griffon swooped in, strafing them with small lightning shots before shocking them all with a straight line of lightning strikes.

"Slice them."

V's panther ran towards the stunned Grimm before jumping into the air. Multiple spikes came out of the big cat as it spun, making something akin to a saw blade. It ripped into one Beowolf before bouncing onto each of its companions, tearing through the bone plates on their skulls and allowing V to dash forward and finish each one of with a swift stab through the head.

The remaining Beowolves, rather than individually be slaughtered, all attacked at once, pouncing towards V from every direction. Just as they would have struck, V was picked up by Griffon and flown up and to the sidelines of the fight. In the confusion of their target's disappearance, the Grimm forgot about Shadow. The panther jumped into the middle of the crowd, his tail became larger, and he swept them into the air together with it. V's bird then flew over, electricity building up within him, and released a large area blast of lightning; the trees nearby were obliterated and the Beowolves crashed to the earth.

"Toasty," V commented, finishing the job by throwing his cane towards and teleporting to each one, killing them in turn.

Only the larger Alpha Beowulf was left alive on the ground, growling in rage as it couldn't move from the damage sustained. V calmly strolled up with his familiars trailing behind him. He looked down on the Alpha and lined up his cane to its forehead with both hands.

"Rest in pieces," he muttered as he drove his weapon home, killing the creature.

**(End music)**

V stood up straight and brushed his hair out of his face as Griffon and Shadow once again disappeared.

"That was mildly exhilarating," the Summoner commented, "But it's time to make haste towards my goal."

V broke off into a run towards the direction of the temple that Griffon indicated. After getting a running start, he jumped up and summoned a cloud of darkness below him and continued to ride it towards the break in the trees ahead of him. As he broke through the tree line, he found a ruin in the middle of the clearing. It was fairly simple, only comprise of a large, circular stone floor with multiple large pillars in a semi circle around it, some of which were fallen or crumbling. Inside the ring around the edge, multiple podiums stood with what appeared to be chess pieces.

V stepped up into the ruins and examined the area. No other students were in sight, but a couple pieces were missing already. It seemed there were sets of two for each piece.

Probably the way they make teams. Each pair takes one and the other matching pair become their teammates.

V took a bit of time to deliberate. He had yet to find a partner, so it would be wrong to take a piece until either another person showed up or he absolutely had to leave the area.

"Hey V!" someone shouted from behind him. The teen turned around to see Yang waving at him from the other edge of the clearing on a hill; Blake was next to her. V gave a polite wave back to the pair as they came down the hill to the ruins.

"The relics are chess pieces?" Blake asked as the two arrived in the ring.

"Well, I guess we should pick one," Yang said, picking up a Knight piece, "How about a little pony?"

"Sure," smirked Blake before looking to V, "Aren't you going to pick one?"

"Not yet. I'll need to see if I find a partner first, as the rules technically dictate I require one."

Suddenly, a loud scream rang out through the forest, making V and Yang turn toward the source's direction.

That's probably something unfortunate.

"Some girl's in trouble! Blake, do you hear that?"

However, Blake was looking skyward, prompting V to glance up too. His eyes widened as he found the unexpected sight of Ruby falling from the sky shouting "HEADS UP!" as a Nevermore passed overhead.

Just when she was coming close to the ground, another student flew in from the side, crashing into her and sending them flying into a tree.

V blinked twice in surprise as Blake asked, "Did your sister just fall from the sky?"

"I—"

Before Yang could respond, crashing noises came from the tree line, and a bear-like Grimm burst forth, trying to shake something off its back that was shouting "YEEEEHAAAAAW!"

A pink blast of energy struck its back, sending it tumbling to the ground and making its rider fall off, revealing it to be an orange haired girl with a black skirt and a white sleeveless top with a heart cut out of it.

"Awww, it's broken," she complained as she dusted herself off.

"Nora, please, don't ever do that again," a second rider panted from the side, this one a boy with black hair wearing a green, diagonally buttoned tailcoat and white pants. The boy noticed his partner had suddenly disappeared and looked around, only to find Nora had already made her way to the ruins and was admiring a white Rook piece.

Nora then picked it up and began to dance, singing, "I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle!"

"NORA!"

"Coming Ren!" the bubbly girl responded with a salute, skipping over to her partner.

"Did that girl just use an Ursa as a form of transportation?" V asked, baffled by the situations occurring.

"I—" Yang tried to respond, but she was interrupted again by a screech as a large scorpion Grimm burst through the trees, chasing Pyrrha.

Ruby then jumped from the tree she was in, landing on the ground and doing a roll before standing up in front of her sister.

"Ruby!" Yang exclaimed.

"Yang!"

"NORA!" the ginger girl shouted as she appeared between them, breaking up their reunion.

"Did she just run all the way here with a Deathstalker chasing her?" Blake inquired as Pyrrha continued to dodge the strikes fro the beast's pincers.

Suddenly, Yang's hair burst into flames and her eyes turned red, shouting "I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE! CAN EVERYTHING JUST CALM DOWN FOR TWO SECONDS BEFORE SOMETHING CRAZY HAPPENS AGAIN?"

After two seconds ticked by, Yang's hair went out and she calmed down. V turned skyward again to check the Nevermore and found a most peculiar sight in its talons.

Is that...?

"How could you leave me up here?" Weiss called down.

"I told you to jump!" Ruby shouted back.

"She's gonna fall," Blake pointed out.

"She'll be fine."

"She's falling," deadpanned V.

The Schnee heiress fell down, but Jaune jumped out from the tree he and Ruby crashed into and caught her. However, they were still quite a ways up in the air and began to fall again.

"I'm surrounded by idiots," V groaned as he facepalmed as he summoned Griffon. The demon bird flew up and grabbed Weiss's shoulders with his talons and the back of Jaune's hoodie with his mandible-like beak. Griffon was able to safely place the alabaster girl and blonde knight on the ground without injury.

"Nice goin' Wunderkid," Griffon wisecracked to Jaune before flying back to V and perching on his arm. As the bird disappeared, the other students stared at V in surprise. Before the group could ask any questions, Pyrrha finally put enough distance between herself and the Deathstalker to jump to join the group.

"Great, the gang's all here. Now we can die together!" Yang joked without humor.

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Ruby responded, full of resolve, and she charged the Deathstalker with a battle cry.

"Ruby, wait!" Yang shouted after the cloaked girl.

Ruby payed her words no heed as she fired a few shots at the Grimm. However, as soon as she attempted to strike it with her weapon when she got close, the beast swatted her away like an insect.

Ruby, though shaken, got up again, shooting the monster in the skull a few more times as she began to fall back.

"Ruby!" Yang shouted, now running to try and help her younger sister. Unfortunately, their running was interrupted as the circling Nevermore flapped it's wings and sent a rain of razor-sharp feathers down toward the girls, pinning Ruby down by her cloak and preventing Yang from reaching her.

"Ruby, get out of there!"

"I'm trying!"

The Deathstalker approached Ruby, pincers clacking and stinger raised. As it got close, it's tail lunged forward with the intent to kill.

V was about to look away when suddenly, a white blue raced past him towards the fallen girl, and as it reached the Deathstalker, a large block of ice trapped its right claw and the stinger. He looked back and found it to be...

_Well, glad they're finally getting along._

Weiss has arrived in the nick of time to save her patent from an untimely demise. V couldn't make out exactly what was said between the two, but he was sure that they were making up for their previous childish attitudes. As the two returned to the group, Yang embraced Ruby.

"Guys, that things circling back," Jaune pointed out, "What are we gonna do?"

"There's no sense in remaining longer than we have to," V said calmly, finally approaching a black King piece and picking it up.

"He's right. Our objective is right in front of us," Weiss agreed.

"Our goal is to get an artifact and take it to the cliff. There's no point in fighting these things," Ruby added.

"Run and live. That's an idea I can get behind!" Jaune said, relieved. He and Ruby grabbed a relic each as well, taking the white Rook and Knight pieces respectively. As they did, a loud cracking noticed turned the groups attention to the Deathstalker; the Grimm was beginning to break the ice.

"I think it's about time we left," V commented.

"Right. Follow me!" Ruby exclaimed, moving forward as the others followed her. The group broke into a run toward the cliff in the distance as the Nevermore made chase.

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

**(Play Red Like Roses Part 2)**

As the group approached the cliff, the Nevermore sped ahead of them. A large set of ruins appeared built up from the bottom of the gorge with multiple bridges and towers of stone rising from the fog below. As the bird Grimm landed on a tower in front of them, the teens took cover behind stone pillars in front of the nearest bridge.

"Well that's just great!" Yang snapped.

Suddenly, the Deathstalker from earlier burst into the scene from behind them.

"Oh man, run!" shouted Jaune.

"Nora, distract it!" ordered Ren. The ginger haired girl obliged, dodging feathers from the Nevermore before retailing; she grabbed a weapon stowed on her back and fired multiple grenades at the beast, each one making a pink explosion. However, Nora didn't notice the Deathstalker come up behind her; thankfully, it's attempt to attack her failed, as a bolt of lightning shot down, stunning it momentarily. Weiss dashes in and grabbed Nora, using a glyph to launch the two back to the group which was now running across the bridge.

Griffon flew back to V after the attack, following him as he, Blake, and Ren tried to catch up to the others. The Deathstalker made one last swipe at V with its pincers, but Griffon pulled him above the attack and deposited him back on the bridge. The group sprinted across the structure, not seeing the Nevermore swooping in from the side towards them. V turned to the left just in time to see it crash into the bridge. He, Pyrrha, Ren, and Blake were blasted back towards the Deathstalker they had just escaped.

"Wonderful," remarked V as the four of them got up and were forced to engage the scorpion. Griffon continued to rain small lightning blasts on its shell while Ren and Pyrrha fired from a distance using their guns. Blake attempted to fight closer up, using her weapon to slice at the monster, but it had no effect and she was pushed back. The group held their position at a distance, still unable to kill the beast yet.

Suddenly, Jaune and Nora flew across from the other side of the broken bridge. Nora's grenade launcher had changed into a large hammer which she used to smack the giant scorpion square on the head. However, the attack was ineffective, but Nora was able to launch herself away from the creature's stinger before it could attack be firing a grenade from the head of her hammer, launching her backwards. Unfortunately, her trajectory caused her to hit Blake and V, sending them flying over the edge towards the abyss.

V was immediately saved as Griffon swooped down and picked up the Summoner, dryly commenting, "You gotta stop making me work so hard boss. At this rate, my wings are gonna fall off."

V ignored the comment, instead focusing on the situation at hand. The duo landed next to Ruby, Weiss and Yang. Blake managed to use her weapon to swing from the lower sections of the stone structure up to land on the back of the Nevermore; she ran along it, slicing multiple times before jumping off and landing with the rest of the group.

"It's tougher than it looks," Blake panted.

"Then let's give it everything we've got!" Yang said with determination.

The group unleashed a barrage of ranged attacks on the approaching Nevermore. Ruby, Yang, and Blake fired shots from their weapons, Weiss launched bolts of Dust, and V used Griffon to blast the Nevermore with lightning. The creature wasn't disturbed by the attacks, dodging them or just tanking them as it continued in a beeline toward the team. It hit the tower that they were standing on, breaking apart. As they fell, the team jumped from piece to piece of falling debris, using their weapons and semblances to propel themselves upward. Of course, V just used Griffon to fly higher, swooping around falling rocks and landing safely with the others on a higher platform.

"None of this is working!" Weiss complained.

"I have a plan," Ruby said.

"And what, pray tell, is it?" V inquired.

"Here's what we're gonna do..." Ruby began.

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

V flew up to the top of the tallest pillar of the structure with Griffon.

"You sure this thing is gonna work boss?" Griffon asked.

"Relax, my fine feathered friend, I'm fairly certain that Ms. Rose's plan will turn out well for us."

Begrudgingly, Griffon once again opened up on the Nevermore, doing his best to get its attention. After a direct hit to the eye, the beast screeched and turned to attack the annoyance on the pillar. Just before impact, V shouted, "Yang!"

He dodged to the side with Griffon, and Yang immediately leapt up from behind him, landing on the beast's lower beak and holding open its mouth.

"I. HOPE. YOU'RE. HUNGRY!" Yang shouted, each syllable punctuated by a blast from her shotgun gauntlets. The creature couldn't steer away as Yang jumped to safety, and it crashed into the cliffside.

"Pin it to the wall," V commanded, summoning Shadow. His panther shot out multiple spikes, trapping the large bird against the cliffside by its wings. As it struggled, Blake and Yang used Blake's weapon to create a line between two pillars that Ruby pushed back, standing on her scythe. Weiss held her in position with a glyph.

"So, can you make the shot?" Ruby asked her partner.

"Hmmm...can I?" Weiss joked.

Ruby blanched for a moment, "Wait, can you—"

"Of course I can!" Weiss interrupted.

With a smirk, Ruby commanded, "Now!"

Weiss released the glyph and Ruby fires multiple shots, the improvised slingshot and recoil from her firing propelling her forward with great speed; V released Shadow's spikes as Ruby hooked the large raven by its neck with her scythe's blade. As her feet made contact with the wall, Weiss raised her sword, creating multiple glyphs leading up the cliffside.

With a loud battle cry, Ruby sprinted up the cliff; the glyphs, her semblance, and her weapon's recoil made her continue to accelerate as she went further up. When she reached the apex of the cliff, she fired one last time, sending the blade of her weapon through the raven's neck, rending its head from its body. After she landed atop the rock face, she looked down at the rest of the ruins and her friends before lifting her scythe up and letting out a triumphant cheer.

**(End music)**

As V watched the Reaper celebrate, he thumbed through his poetry book before finding and appropriate passage, chuckling to himself.

"What's so funny?" Blake asked the Summoner.

"Nothing, just a line of poetry I thought was appropriate," V replied, ""Quoth the raven...

**Nevermore**.""

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

Would V please report to Professor Ozpin's office? Again, V, please report to Professor Ozpin's office, a voice rang out over the intercom as the group returned to Beacon after getting past the cliff.

"Wait, your name is actually V?" Yang asked, looking at him incredulously.

"Perhaps," V shrugged his shoulders with a small smile.

V, you will be escorted by Professor Goodwitch to Professor Ozpin's office, the intercom rang out again.

Seconds later, the black and white dressed woman appeared before the summoner.

"Mister V," she said without any emotion in her voice.

"Miss Goodwitch," V stated.

"Shall we?" she motioned to the direction in which Ozpin's office may be.

"Yes, thank you," V followed behind the woman to the Headmaster's office. The rest of the group followed the two with their eyes, completely silently.

"So what did he do?" Jaune asked worriedly.

"I don't know. He didn't do anything wrong. Maybe it's because he doesn't have a partner," Blake pointed out.

"Oh no! Is he getting kicked out?" Ruby cried out.

"I don't know. I guess we'll just have to find out at the ceremony," Weiss replied. The teens, despite their apprehension for their new friend, continued on to the theater.

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

(Later)

"What do you think happened to V?" Ruby asked as she and her teammates got to their dorm room. The teams had just been announced in the theater, with Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang becoming Team RWBY, and Ruby was its leader.

"I hope nothing bad happened," Blake muttered as they entered their room. She quite enjoyed the eccentric boy.

"I think you'll be glad to find that I'm doing well," a familiar voice came from the left of the door.

"V!" Team RWBY exclaimed. The boy was reclining in an extra bed to the side of the room, reading through his usual book.

"What are you doing in are room? Are you just being a creep?" Weiss demanded.

"Well, Snow Queen, I'm offended you would think so lowly of a man such as myself," V smiled at her as he closed the book, "I'm sure you'll be glad to hear the reason I'm here is because for the foreseeable future, I'm going to be your roommate."

"But why is this happening?" Blake asked.

V pursed his lips, "Apparently, there was a...last second addition to Beacon's roster," V glanced to Ruby, who immediately looked down, "As a result, I became the odd man out. Unfortunately, single students are technically not allowed to be a team by themself, so I have been added to yours for the foreseeable future."

"Yay!" Ruby shouted in excitement.

"Don't disturb my beauty sleep, we'll get along just fine," Weiss said as she walked over to claim her bed. Blake simply nodded in understanding at V's explanation while Yang gave him a fairly...suggestive look.

_Is she...undressing me with her eyes?_

"I'll step outside a moment to let you girls get changed," V said, hopping off his bed and heading to the door, only to be stopped by Yang grasping his shoulder.

"Oh, are you sure you don't want to join us?" she asked teasingly, much to the chagrin and embarrassment of her teammates. V tensed up at the contact, but he refused to show weakness for the blonde brawler to capitalize on.

"Yes, I'm sure. Now if you'll excuse me," he shrugged off her hand and exited the room, closing the door behind him.

_I really hope I don't have to deal with this for four years..._ he slumped down with his back against the door, placing his face in his hands.


	4. Chapter 4: The Badge and the Burden

It's morning again in Beacon academy, and the academy grounds were quiet with the tranquility of morning. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and—

TWEEEEEEEEEEET!

—all of that peace was interrupted when the leader of Team RWBY decided to wake up the last two people in her room with the shrill blast of a whistle.

Weiss was already getting up, but at the sound that was next to her ear, she fell out of bed face first. V, who was set up in the corner on the fifth bed, suddenly burst into a standing position, cane at the ready to attack an invader, only to find the rest of Team RWBY (sans Weiss) ready for the day.

"What in the world is wrong with you?" Weiss shouted at their new leader.

"Now that you're both awake, we can get to our first order of business!" Ruby announced, oblivious two the fact that Weiss was incredibly pissed off.

"And what would that be, sending me to the nurse's office for cardiac arrest?" V asked, throwing on his uniform shirt and jacket.

"Decorating!" Yang held numerous assorted items in her hands from pillows and pamphlets to...a candle holder?

_I have several questions, but chief among them is "Why."_

"We still have to unpack," Blake pointed out, holding up a suitcase that promptly opened, spilling out its contents. Weiss was not amused by the situation, and Ruby suddenly blowing on her whistle out of nowhere again certainly didn't help that. V was slightly miffed by the sudden wake up, yet he got over it.

"Alright! Weiss, Blake, Yang, their friend V, and their fearless leader Ruby have begun their first mission! Banzai!" cheered Ruby, raising her first in the air.

"Banzai!" Yang and Blake joined in, raising their fists as well.

V simply sighed and sat on his bed to read his book. He didn't bring much to unpack, and even then, hopefully he wouldn't be in this room forever. While he read, he glanced up occasionally to watch what his roommates were doing. He pinched the bridge of his nose when Yang put up a poster of a group called "The Achieve Men," nodded in approval at a painting of a forest that Weiss hung up, and Ruby...he rolled his eyes as she slashed a curtain in half diagonally with Crescent Rose.

His eyes finally landed on Blake, who was putting books on a nearby shelf. However, she paused and glanced around nervously as she picked up one; V managed to get a glimpse of the title:

"Ninja's of Love"

Blake looked at him with fear in her eyes probably worried he'd tell everyone else about the...suggestive literature. However, V simply put a finger to his lips with a slight smirk, assuaging her worries.

_On second thought, maybe I shouldn't ask Blake for recommendations on literature. _

He continued to watch as they kept placing more and more assorted items and decorations until finally, they were finished. All of their beds had been squished together, forcing V to stand up by the door with the girls observing their handiwork; the room was littered with everything they had unpacked and there was next to no space left.

"This isn't going to work," Weiss said.

"It is a bit cramped," Blake observed.

"Really? I wouldn't have guessed," V wisecracked.

"Maybe we could ditch some of our stuff," Yang said.

"Or maybe we could ditch the beds..." Ruby began.

"Don't you dare throw out mine," V interrupted.

"And make bunk beds!" Ruby finished, throwing her hands into the air enthusiastically.

"That sounds incredibly dangerous," Weiss pointed out, concerned with the hazards of such an idea.

"And super awesome!" Yang agreed with Ruby.

"It does seem efficient," Blake said, looking at the rest of the group.

"Well, we should put it to a vote," Weiss suggested.

"I believe they just did," V responded.

"Wait, what are you going to do V?" Ruby asked their temporary fifth member.

"Provided your arrangements don't mess with my sleeping, you won't hear complaints from me," the sole male occupant of the room replied.

"Alright! Let's do this!" Ruby exclaimed. Using random supplies they had on hand, the team quickly assembled two makeshift bunk beds.

This is comparable to taking apart two cars and throwing them together in the most rushed way possible. The first one had a bed tied up by ropes above the one on the ground, and the other was held up by books stacked on each of the four bedposts. V's bed was left alone, thankfully. It looked like a disaster.

But hey, if it works, it works.

"Alright! Our second of order iiiiiiiis..." Ruby opened a book as she suddenly leapt up to sit in her new bed, "Classes. Now, we've got a few classes today with our first one starting at 9, which is—"

"Hang on, did you say 9 o'clock?" Weiss asked.

"Uuum..."

"IT'S 8:55 YOU DUNCE!" the Schnee heiress shouted at their leader, sprinting out the door.

"Uh, TO CLASS!" Ruby panicked as the three other members of Team RWBY followed.

V snatched his cane from the wall and his book off his bed before dashing after them, summoning a dark cloud to ride on and speeding passed his roommates. As he turned around a corner, he almost slammed face first into Ozpin, but swerved around and ducked under his arm. Ozpin was left in shock as V turned the corner. Soon after, Teams RWBY and JNPR sped by Ozpin. The professor simply sipped his coffee as he watched the students rushing to class.

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV **

"Monsters! Deeeemons! Prowlers of the night! Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names, but I merely refer to them as prey! Ha-ha!" an aging professor spoke in front of the class. He had a larger mustache and bushy eyebrows, and he wore a red double breasted jacket with gold colored buttons and trimming.

V was unamused by the Professor, Peter Port's, "lecture." He'd heard almost all the tales of the prototype fellow's escapades when his father brought him when he had business here. Well, V heard parts of them; most of the time he fell asleep.

"Uh...and you will too upon graduating from this prestigious academy!" the professor continued despite the lack of enthusiasm, "Now, as I was saying: Vale, as well as the other three kingdoms, are safe havens in an otherwise treacherous world! Our planet is absolutely teeming with creatures that would love nothing more than to tear you to pieces! And that's where we come in. Huntsmen! Huntresses..." he winked at the female members of the class at the last part. Somehow, even V felt awkward after that.

"Individuals who have sworn to protect those who cannot protect themselves! From what, you ask? Why, the very world!" the professor said.

"Ayyyyyy-yep!" cheered a student in the back of the class with his hand raised. Upon finding everyone staring at him, he immediately simmered down and sat back in his seat.

"That is what you are training to become. But first: A story. A tale of a young, handsome man...me! When I was a boy..."

V immediately clocked out of the lecture at that point, opting to simply read his book as Port droned on about his youth.

Hopefully I don't end up like this in my old age.

"Despite smelling of cabbages, my grandfather was a wise man. 'Peter', he told me..."

He glanced down the aisle to see how his friends were doing, only to find Ruby holding up a messy sketch of their educator with stink lines coming off of him titled "Professor Poop." V merely shook his head at the child's antics while Blake and Yang giggled. Weiss, on the other hand, was not as amused as her teammates, sending a glare her leader's way.

"Ah-heh-hem!" the Professor cleared his throat to get their attention again, "Anyway, the Beowolf was no match for my sheer tenacity, and I returned to my village with the beast in captivity and my head held high, celebrated as a hero!"

The teacher took a bow. V looked back to Ruby to find her balancing an apple on a book on a pencil on her finger. He would have been mildly impressed had he not noticed Weiss's continued negative demeanor.

"So what is the moral of the story? A true Hunstman must be honorable! A true Hunstman must be dependable!"

Ruby had fallen asleep.

"A true Hunstman must be strategic, well-educated, and wise!"

Ruby was now picking her nose.

"So, who among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these—"

"I do sir!" V's hand shot up before Port could finish. He knew Weiss would likely blow her top in about five seconds if he hadn't volunteered immediately instead.

"Well then, let's find out! Step forward and face your opponent!" the professor challenged him.

As he walked past Weiss, V whispered, "Take this time to calm down a bit. Don't freak out on your leader."

V stepped down onto the floor of the lecture hall and faced the cage on the opposite side, raising his cane like a sword. A growling emanated the container as red eyes peered at the human on the other side of the room.

"Gooooo V!" cheered Yang.

"Fight well!" Blake added.

"Kick its butt V!" Ruby shouted.

"Ruby, be quiet! He's probably trying to focus!" Weiss snapped.

"Oh, um...sorry..." Ruby became downtrodden.

_Looks like my volunteering changed nothing...glad Weiss can settle her problems like an adult without taking it out on a _fifteen_ year old_, V sarcastically thought.

"Alright! Let the match, BEGIN!" Ports axe swung and released the beast within the cage. A boar-like Grimm was revealed to be within as the door fell off; it immediately charged at the Hunstman-in-training in front of him.

Boarbatsuk, V surfed to the side on a shadowy cloud, stopping to pace around the Grimm as it ceased its charge.

"Ha-ha! Wasn't expecting that, were you?" chuckled Port.

"Hang in there V!" Ruby cheered again.

The Boarbatusk charged again; V summoned Griffon to fire at the beast a few times, but the electricity proved ineffective against the beast's armor. As the Grimm got close, V blocked its tusks with his cane, but it got locked in them. As the summoner struggled to free his weapon, Ruby shouted, "Come on V, show it who's boss!"

The Boarbatusk charged again; V summoned Griffon to fire at the beast a few times, but the electricity proved to have only minimal effect against the beast's charge. As the Grimm got close, V blocked its tusks with his cane as he got pushed back, but it got locked in them. As the summoner struggled to free his weapon, Ruby shouted, "Come on V, show it who's boss!"

V finally freed his weapon, rolling to the side as the unprepared Boarbatusk continued forward and crashed into a desk.

"V! Go for its belly! There's no armor underneath!" Ruby advised from the side.

"Stop telling him what to do!" Weiss reprimanded her teammate. V would have commented, but the Boarbatusk had recovered, spinning in a ball and launching itself toward the summoner. In response, he conjured Shadow, who uses its tail to sweep the ball into the air and exposing its stomach as it flailed helplessly.

"Gouge 'em," V commanded as the familiar pierced the beast in the stomach, leaving an opening for V to teleport up and finish it off with a swift stab of the cane.

"Bravo! Bra-vo! It appears we are in the presence of a true Hunstman-in-training!" Port applauded, "I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today. Be sure to cover the assigned readings, and...stay vigilant! Class dismissed!"

Weiss immediately stood up from her chair and stormed out of the room; Ruby watched her leave with a frown. V simply pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance at the rich girl's attitude.

"Sheesh, what's with her?" Jaune asked as the students continued to pour out.

"You'll possibly find it best not to think to hard on members of the female sex; it's often more confusing than it's worth," V advised the blonde knight before leaving himself to pursue the heiress.

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

Weiss had just finished venting at Ruby about the fact that she was a terrible team leader when she found a familiar person sitting on a bench overlooking Vale reading a book. He shut the book as he heard her approach from behind and patted the spot next to him with his hand.

"Take a seat, Weiss," V stated.

"How did you get ahead of me?" Weiss replied at the mysterious appearance of the boy.

"Then I suppose you'll stand. That's fine," V didn't answer her question, mildly frustrating the girl. Nonetheless, she walked up to the side of the bench.

"You did very well today in your fight," Weiss began.

"Cut the bullshit," V interrupted.

"Wh-wha-?" Weiss was caught off guard by V's sudden change in attitude from a calm observer to unexpected aggression as well as his deviation from his usually fairly clean speech.

"You were clearly annoyed by Ruby today. I'd like to know exactly why," V continued.

"Well..." Weiss fumbled her speech from V's straightforwardness, "I-I think I should have been the leader of Team RWBY!"

V sat for a moment, not responding until suddenly he burst into raucous laughter.

"H-hey! What are you laughing for?" Weiss demanded as the boy finally settled down.

"I suppose I should have expected such a response," V trailed off as he stood up to face Weiss.

"And just what is that supposed to mean?"

"If I had to guess, you've been given just about everything you could ever want your whole life, am I right?" V asked the girl.

After pausing for a moment and hearing no response, he continued, "I'll take your silence as a yes I'll admit, you carry yourself quite well in combat if your performance in initiation is anything to go by, but you have to learn to accept that the outcome will not always go your way."

"But—"

""All that is gold does not glitter,"" I believe it is said," V continued without letting Weiss respond, again, "Just because Ruby seems a bit rough around the edges now doesn't mean she won't mature over time and become a great leader one day. For now, the best thing you can do is try to be the best teammate and partner you can be.

"I've known Ozpin almost my whole life and he's certainly made a lot of mistakes, yet I can bring myself to believe this is one of them."

"Well...I hadn't thought of it that way..." Weiss lamented. She paused for a moment, processing V's words, when she realized something.

"Hey, what does that last part—"

"Oh dear, it seems it's getting late. I suppose we should head back to the dorm room," V once again cut off Weiss. Before she could speak again, V turned around and began to walk off, twirling his cane as he did so.

_What a strange boy..._Weiss thought, however, she wasn't as concerned about unraveling his past. No, right now, she had to make up for her earlier mistreatment of her leader.


	5. Chapter 5: Jaunedice

Combat Class with Professor Goodwitch was always a bit of a mixed bag. While sometimes it was fun and entertaining watching two of his fellow students spar, V sometimes got bored by a lack of spectacle in the fights on the stage. Case in point, the current match: Jaune vs. Cardin.

The former was bent over, holding himself up with his sword. Cardin was standing a distance away with his mace on his shoulder, grinning maliciously at his opponents exhaustion. Jaune raised his sword and charged at Cardin, but his swing was easily dodged by the larger student and he was struck on his shield by Cardin's mace. Jaune was sent flying by the blow, losing his shield in the process. The blonde knight recovered and went for an overhead swing. His strike once again failed to connect, this time because Cardin blocked it. The orange haired mace-wielded stood taller, making him tower over Jaune.

"This is the part where you lose," the larger teen growled.

"Over my dead—" Jaune was cut off by a knee to the gut, making him double over trying to catch his breath.

V sighed as Cardin wound up for a strike. Jaune clearly wasn't cut out for this kind of activity.

"Cardin's that's enough!" Professor Goodwitch stopped the match, "Students, as you can see, Mr. Arc's Aura has now dropped into the red. In a tournament-styled duel, this would indicate that Jaune is no longer fit for battle, and that the official may call the match," she turned to the fallen student, "Mr. Arc, it's been weeks now. Please try to refer to your Scroll during combat. Gauging your Aura will help you decide when it's appropriate to attack, or when it is better to move to a more... defensive strategy. We wouldn't want you to be gobbled up by a Beowolf, now, would we?"

"Speak for yourself..." Cardin grumbled, walking off stage.

"Remember, everyone, the Vytal Festival is only a few months away!" Goodwitch announced to the excitement of the gathered students, "It won't be long before students from the other kingdoms start arriving in Vale, so keep practicing! Those who choose to compete in the combat tournament will be representing all of Vale!"

The bell rang, dismissing the students from the class.

_Hopefully lunch today isn't Mystery Meat_, V thought as they left.

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

"So there we were in the middle of the night!" Nora began her story.

"It was day," Ren corrected. Teams RWBY and JNPR, plus V, all sat together in he cafeteria. Nora was telling a grandiose tale to the assembled teens. Blake and V were reading together, Yang was very interested in the fantastical story Nora was telling, Ruby and Pyrrha were paying attention to be respectful, and Jaune was dejectedly picking at his food.

"We were surrounded by Ursai..."

"They were Beowolves."

"DOZENS OF THEM!"

"Two of 'em."

"But they were no match, and in the end, me and Ren made a buttload of Lien selling Ursa skin rugs!"

"She's been having this reoccurring dream for nearly a month now," Ren sighed.

"Jaune, you seem uncharacteristically quiet. Is something wrong?" V closed his book and looked to the leader of JNPR.

"Huh? What?" Jaune snapped out of his stupor at the sound of his name, "Nothing's wrong. I'm okay!"

"Well you seem a little...not okay," Ruby replied.

"Guys, I'm fine. Seriously, look!" Jaune faked a smile and thumbs up. Across the cafeteria, they saw Team CRDL surrounding a girl who was a rabbit Faunus and mocking her.

"Jaune, Cardin's been picking on you since the first week of school!" Pyrrha said, concerned for her partner's well being.

"Who, Cardin Winchester? Nah, he just likes to play practical jokes!" Jaune tried to rationalize his situation.

"Jaune, Cardin's a bully," Ruby frowned.

"Oh please, name one time he's "bullied" me," Jaune scoffed.

"Well, there's the time he knocked all your books out of your hands," the leader of RWBY said.

"Then he activated your shield while it was a sheathe and got you stuck in a doorway," Blake added.

"And he threw you in a locker and sent you to a random location," Yang followed up.

"And that all happened in the same day," V finished. A moment of silence followed.

"I didn't land that far from the school..." Jaune said.

V smacked his forehead with his hand in disappointment.

"Jaune, you know if you ever need help, you can just ask," Pyrrha offered.

"Oh! I know! We'll break his legs!" Nora exclaimed with an insane grin.

"Guys, really, it's fine! Besides, he's not only a jerk to me; he's a jerk to everyone."

"You say that as though it makes it any better," deadpanned V.

Suddenly, loud guffaws were heard from the other end of the cafeteria. Team CRDL was continuing to harass the Faunus girl from before, this time with Cardin pulling on one of the girl's ears.

"Ow! That hurts!" she struggled against him, "Please, stop..."

"I told you it was real!" Cardin turned to his cronies.

"What a freak!" one of his teammates insulted the girl. Cardin finally let the girl go, and she walked away, hiding her face from everyone else she passed.

"Atrocious. I can't stand people like him," Pyrrha said.

V glared across the cafeteria at the bully as Jaune got up. Cardin seemed to be focusing on Jaune as he began to leave. V drummed his fingers on the table in frustration.

_One of these days, you're going to get what's coming for you._

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

(Next day)

V hadn't been participating in combat class at all this year, mostly opting to read as the other students spared. However, today he was in a particularly sour mood from a particular asshole that was waiting for a challenger to approach. As a result, as soon as Professor Goodwitch asked for volunteers, his hand shot up immediately to the slight surprise of the other students in attendance.

As V stepped to the stage, Cardin seemed to scoff at the boy. After all, he was a fairly lanky fellow, and had a cane for a weapon. What threat could he possibly pose?

"Did you come up here just to get a beating?" the class bully gloated.

V didn't respond; doing so would have just inflated his ego regardless of what was said. Cardin growled in frustration at the teen's silence.

Then V did something unexpected.

He placed his cane on the ground and pulled a violin and bow from his back.

The entire crowd looked at him as though he were insane when he rested the violin on his chin and placed the bow upon it.

Cardin laughed, "Alright, you asked for it."

Goodwitch hesitated, but a small glance from V prompted her to announce, "Begin."

And V began to play as Cardin charged him

**(Play Violino Solo - Eine Kleine Nachtmusik [search on YouTube])**

Cardin swung his mace in a downward stroke, but the summoner easily dodged to the side on a small cloud of shadows and continued to play mockingly. His opponent swung again multiple times, missing each as V dodged again and again. Finally, as Cardin missed a fifth swing, he was immediately struck by Shadow who leapt from the cloud below and pounced on the armored warrior, knocking him away.

V stepped off his cloud as Shadow continued to assault his enemy. His familiar stabbed at Cardin with spikes repeatedly, but some of the strikes were blocked by Cardin's mace. However, many of the hits landed and chipped away at Cardin's Aura, pushing him into the yellow zone, around 70%.

Cardin spared a glance to the scoreboard above them and found the discrepancy between their Auras. His anger was amplified, and V's deriding violin playing didn't do anything to help his mood. He growled in fury at his humiliation as he slammed his mace onto Shadow, creating an explosion from the Dust crystal in his mace.

V frowned as Shadow was launched back, yet he was otherwise unperturbed. Griffon was summoned to assist his fellow by strafing Cardin with lightning blasts.

Cardin continued to remain on the defensive, as Shadow was once again getting into melee range. He was unable to keep up with the assault from the two. Without any way to defend himself completely, he could only watch as his Aura meter ticked closer and closer to red. In a last ditch effort to turn the march around, he ran past the panther and ignored the attacks of the bird as he charged their master, yet V simply remained calm and unmoving. As soon as Cardin got close, he attacked with his mace in a telegraphed strike.

V deftly avoided the swing, making Cardin stumble and fall as a result of his missed overcommitted attack. Due to his inability to recover, Griffon was able to land one last shot of lightning, finally dropping Cardin's Aura to the red zone. The summoner finished playing his song and bowed mockingly to his fallen opponent to the applause of most of the student body.

"And the winner for today's first duel is V," Goodwitch announced as V left the stage. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Cardin get up and shoot a glare at him. Immediately after he returned to the crowd, his friends were upon him.

"That was awesome! I mean, not as awesome as breaking his legs, but still!" Nora shouted.

"At least you have decent musical taste," Weiss commented.

"Nice job V!" Yang gave him a thumbs up.

"You did really well today," Blake added with a slight smile. Similarly to the night before initiation, V saw her bow twitch a little.

_Did that bow just twi—_

V and his friends' conversation was interrupted by Mrs. Goodwitch announcing, "Our next duel will be...Russel Thrush and Lie Ren."

_Guess I'll have to ask later._

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

It was finally the last period of the day. Team RWBY had History of Remnant for their last class, taught by:

"Yes, yes! prior to the Faunus Rights Revolution—more popularly known as the Faunus War—humankind was quite, quite adamant about centralizing Faunus population in Menagerie," Professor Oobleck rattled off at a million words a minute while sipping about the room every so often at seemingly light speed, "Now! While this must feel like ancient history to many of you, it is imperative to remember that these are relatively recent events! Why, the repercussions of the uprising can still be seen to this day! Now! Have any among you been subjugated or discriminated because of your Faunus heritage?"

Some of the students in the audience raised their hands tentatively, making V groan in disappointment at the continued prejudice against them.

"Dreadful, simply dreadful! Remember, students, it is precisely this kind of ignorance that breeds violence!" Oobleck continued, sipping his coffee, "I mean, I mean, I mean just look at what happened to White Fang! Now, which one of you young scholars can tell me what many theorize to be the turning point in the third year of the War? Yes?"

"The Battle at Fort Castle!" Weiss answered the question with a slightly comfy tone.

_Who names their fortification "Fort Castle?" That's completely redundant._

"Precisely!" the hyperactive professor complimented, "And, who can tell me the advantage the Faunus had over General Lagune's forces?"

"Hey!" Jaune shouted on the other side of the class.

"MR. ARC!" Oobleck zoomed over to the startled student, "Glad to see you've decided to finally participate. Excellent! What is the answer?"

"Uuuuhhhhh...the answer...the advantage the Faunus had...over the other guy," Jaune struggled to answer. V leaned on his right arm and pinched the bridge of his nose in disappointment.

"Binoculars!" the blonde knight answered to laugher from the class. V loudly slammed his head on the table.

"You felt that too?" Blake asked next to him.

"I am currently suffering from a severe case of second-hand embarrassment," V groaned into the desk.

"Very funny Mr. Arc!" Oobleck dashed behind his desk, "Mr. Winchester! Perhaps you have some thoughts on the subject!"

"Well, I know it's a lot easier to train an animal than a soldier," Cardin replied, earning a head shake of disapproval from the professor.

"You really go out of your way to be a jerk to everyone, don't you Winchester?" V insulted the bully as he turned around.

"What, you got a problem?"

"If I may interrupt," Pyrrha broke up the brewing argument.

"Ah! Miss Nikos, do you finally have an answer to this apparently difficult question?" the professor shot a look at Jaune and Cardin.

"The answer is night-vision. Many Faunus are known to have nearly perfect vision in the dark."

"Lagune was a brash and inexperienced Commander. He attempted to ambush the Faunus as they slept, but his inability to coordinate in pitch black conditions led to his much larger forces being routed and the general himself getting captured," V concluded before pointedly glaring at Cardin, "Perhaps if he wasn't such a _bad student_ he wouldn't be recognized as one of history's biggest failures."

"Why you—" Cardin stood up with his fist clenched.

"Mr. Winchester, please sit down," the professor commanded. The bully reluctantly complied as Jaune laughed at his expense.

"You _and_ Mr. Arc can see me after class for additional reading assignments," Oobleck finished as he took a sip from his mug, silencing Jaune, "Now, moving on! After Lagune's defeat..."

Suddenly, the bell cut into the speedy professor's lecture.

"Oh my goodness! It seems class moved faster than I thought. Remember, there will be a quiz on this material in two days, so study hard. Class dismissed!" the professor yelled, zooming to his desk to refill his coffee.

The students, sans Cardin and Jaune, stood up and shuffled out of the room to go to their next class.

"Alright! Next class is...Port?" Yang declared to her teammates and V as they walked out of the classroom, much to the dismay of them at having to deal with another round of boring stories.

"Let's depart, Team RWBY!" Ruby dramatically pointed in the assumed direction of Port's class with a map in her other hand. V glanced at the map before picking it up from the girl's hand, turning it around to the right direction, and giving it back to her.

"Uh, I mean that way!" Ruby pointed the other way.

"It's been a month and you still don't know how to get to our classes?" Weiss asked incredulously.

"Don't judge me!" Ruby nearly screamed at her partner as she set off towards the actual path to Port's room. Her teammates all gave their own signs of mock annoyance before setting off with her.


	6. Chapter 6: Forever Fall

**A/N: I'm not sure how bad this chapter turned out given that I finished it while sleep deprived after having my flight home from Florida delayed for four hours and then having to sleep in an airport in Georgia after landing and finding all the local hotels are full. Just bear with it I guess.**

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

_"Come meet me in the library."_

_~V_

That's what the note had said. Blake looked over it again as she entered the room. Her teammate definitely wasn't the person to pass notes to people instead of talking face to face, so he clearly wanted a private conversation.

But why?

"Glad to see you've arrived," the boy in question was off to the right. He closed a copy of 'Famous Works of William Blake' and set it back onto the shelf he was standing by.

"So what did you want to bring me here for?" she asked.

"Straight to the point. Alright then, I wanted to know why your bow twitches so much," V responded.

Blake blanched a little at his reply. She had expected something...other than that given the circumstances of a note asking to meet alone.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she denied.

V sighed, "I think we both know you're lying. How about I cut you a deal?"

"What deal would that be?" Blake crossed her arms.

"You tell me what you're hiding under your bow and I'll answer three questions you ask me," he stated, "I'm aware that you and likely everyone at school know absolutely nothing about me, so if you tell me what's under your bow, I'll answer any four questions you ask about me. Deal?"

Blake thought for a moment. It was impossible to avoid V forever, as he'd likely find out her secret on his own regardless. Perhaps it would be best to get it over with now and get some information about this mysterious teen.

Rather than answer his question in words, Blake looked around.

"If you're wondering, I have Griffon and Shadow patrolling around to make sure we're not interrupted. I also requested to have the cameras shut off and for the librarian to vacate the area."

"How did you get that to happen?"

"My father is a good friend of Ozpin and ha shine on many trips here. He often brought me as a child, and I used their friendship to have the request fulfilled. You now have three more questions and you still haven't held up your end of the bargain."

Why do you have to take these questions as not being rhetorical? Blake inwardly groaned.

"What is your semblance?" she pressed on with her questions, hoping to delay the inevitable.

"I suppose you understand the Schnee family's glyphs? I've been told that it works similar to them with the summoning and such. Of course, I'm not certain it's true myself."

Blake thought for a moment before deciding on her next question, "What is your real name?"

V pursed his lips before responding, "Victor Blake, but never call me that."

"If that's your name, then why do you call yourself V?" Blake asked her last question.

V was once again on the spot, drumming his fingers on his cane, finally replying, "Because I want to be my own person."

"What's that supposed to—"

"I answered your four questions," V cut her off.

"How do I know you're telling the truth?"

"You technically don't, but now you're just stalling. I do expect you to hold up your end of our little deal now."

Blake looked a little downcast, but she reluctantly reaches up and untied her bow, letting it fall away.

V didn't notice anything at first, but then he saw two small cat ears sitting on her head.

"So you're a Faunus," he simply stated.

Blake nodded, rubbing her left arm with her right hand while looking to the ground.

"Okay."

"What?" Blake asked, surprised at V's casual response.

"I said o—"

"I know what you said, but...you're okay with this?"

"Well, that's basically what I just said," V smirked, quoting, "'A fool sees not the same tree a wise man sees.' I don't see you being a Faunus as meaning your somehow less than me; only someone like Cardin or his ilk would say the opposite."

Blake smiled at his acceptance.

V's face darkened a little, "However, I must warn you that secrets have a way of getting out..."

"Shouldn't you take some of your own advice?" Blake asked with a smirk despite her mildly soured mood at the comment.

"I suppose I should, but I think secrets are harder to uncover when the person their about isn't necessarily aware of their existence," V mused to Blake's confusion, "Anyway, I believe this meeting was productive for both of us. Good day."

V promptly walked past Blake, cane taping on the ground as he hummed a tune. All of a sudden, he stopped and looked back at her.

"By the way, I think you look better without the bow," he grinned before continuing to walk off.

Blake turned to watch his retreating figure, still a little put off by the ordeal but with a slight blush tinging her cheeks at the last comment. She looked at the fabric in her hands and pondered for a moment, but she ultimately tied up her bow again before turning to exit too.

I think I need to relax for a bit...

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

(The next day)

Unlike most days, today did not feature the usual sparing combat class with Goodwitch. Instead, Team RWBY and V as well as teams JNPR and CRDL were brought on a trip to a beautiful forest named Forever Fall. It truly earned its name, as its grey trees with their orange leaves gave the impression that it was indeed always autumn there.

"Yes, students, the forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful, but we are not here to sight-see," Professor Goodwitch explained, "Professor Peach has asked all of you to collect samples from the trees deep inside this forest, and I'm here to make sure none of you die while doing so."

While V was taking in the scenery, he did notice that Cardin had Jaune on bit of a tight leash, having him carry his team's jars for them. He knew Jaune was a bit of an idiot and likely found some way to sneak into Beacon given his aptitude, so it was no surprise that he was in such a situation.

_I'm not sure what Ozpin thought letting him in_, V wondered.

Goodwitch stopped the group and turned to face them, "Each of you is to gather one jar's worth of red sap. However, this forest is full of the creatures of Grimm, so be sure to stay by your teammates. We will rendezvous back here at 4 o'clock. Have fun!"

"Come on, buddy," Cardin and his goons dragged off Jaune while RWBY and JNPR went off in another direction with V in tow.

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

Jaune returned to Team CRDL with their jars filled with red sap, bringing the large amount of glassware before collapsing to the ground with a thud.

First, he'd lied his way into Beacon, then he got constantly bullied by Cardin as soon as the semester started. And now, Cardin was aware of his secret and was always using it against him.

Why does this always happen to me? Jaune groaned as he continued to lay on the ground with CRDL lounging around and making him do all the work.

"Hey, great work there Jaune-y boy. Now that wasn't too hard, was it?" Cardin asked mockingly.

"I think I'm allergic to this stuff," Jaune slurred, lifting his head to find his vision was blurry before he realized his eyes were only crossed.

"Great, great. So Jaune, I bet you're wondering, 'Why did my buddy Cardin have me get six jars of sap when there's only five of us?'"

"That is one of the many questions I've asked myself today, yes," the blonde-haired Knight said as he lifted himself from the ground.

"Well, come with me and you'll find out," Cardin sneered, earning a groan and a gulp from the smaller boy.

Jaune finally got up and began to follow the four team members.

As he was walking, Jaune thought about his conversation with Pyrrha when they were on the rooftop. He felt stupid for refusing help from the strongest member of his team. Jaune felt that he always made mistakes like this.

And all he got for trying to refuse her help by shouting about his forged entrance to Beacon was having Cardin constantly having his foot on his throat, and there was nothing he could do about it.

_Unless... no, I can't. Could I? But I'm outmatched four-to-one..._

_No...I can't_

Jaune finally reached the hill, sitting between Cardin and Russel. What he was seeing was the rest of the group getting their own respective shares of the sap into their jars before taking their time to take a break.

Ruby was having trouble trying to close the lid on the jar, pouting in irritation as she tried her best to position the lid just right on top of the jar and having to use all her strength just to open the jar again and repeat the process in futility. Yang was standing beside a tree, observing the jar she had filled before tossing it up a few inches into the air before catching it and sitting beside her younger sister. Blake was reclining against a tree, reading a novel; she seemed to be shooting a few glances over at V for some reason. Weiss, strangely enough, seemed to be trying to converse with V, though the boy was more focused on trying to get sap out of the tree. His face raised as he had an idea before Shadow appeared next to him. V pointed to a part of the tree, and Shadow sent a small spike to stab the tree, causing the sap to flow out into his jar.

Ren was filling up another jar for Nora, as she had already eaten her way through another helping of the sap; at this point, Ren was doing everything in his willpower not to give up with the assignment entirely at the girl's shenanigans. Finally, there was Pyrrha holding a jar of sap with a small, victorious grin on her face.

"Cardin, what's going on?" Jaune asked suspiciously.

"Payback," Cardin answered, Jaune finally understood what Cardin was doing.

Or at least he thought he did.

"Pyrrha?"

"No, him," Cardin growled, pointing to the black haired boy, who was now talking with Weiss.

"V?" Jaune asked incredulously, but it did make sense. V had humiliated Cardin the day before by soundly defeating him without even using a weapon while playing the violin; it certainly showed V thought Cardin wasn't worth putting in effort to defeat.

"That's him. That poetry reading, violin playing idiot thinks he's all high and mighty. Well, I say we take him down a few pegs," Cardin confirmed before pulling out a small box.

"All right, boys. Last night, ol' Jaune here managed to round up an entire box of Rapier Wasps, and now, we're gonna put 'em to work," Cardin explained. Jaune laughed nervously at both the sound of angry insects that were emanating from within the cardboard box, and that fact that Russel was roughly shaking his shoulder.

"Now, based on the essays our good friend wrote for me last week, these nasty things absolutely love sweets. I'm thinking we teach him a thing or two," Cardin grabbed Jaune and shoved a jar of sap into his hands, "And you're gonna do it."

"Do what?" asked Jaune, though he was fairly certain he knew what the answer was.

"Hit him with the sap!" Cardin ordered, "Or I'll have a little chat with Goodwitch, and you'll be on the first ship out of Beacon!"

Jaune looked at the jar in his hands, then to the four smiling bullies, and finally to V, who was oblivious to the occurrences atop the hill.

He thought for a moment, holding the jar in his shaking hand, trying to steel his nerves and throw it. However, his instincts told him to do something else, and for once he listened to them.

"No," the boy said to Cardin.

"What did you just say?"

"I said NO!" Jaune shouted, throwing the jar. To Jaune, things seemed to move in slow motion as the glass shattered against Cardin's chestplate and coated it in sap.

"Oh-ho-ho, you've done it now," Cardin laughed darkly as two of his team members grabbed Jaune, dragging him further into the forest.

_VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV_

V suddenly turned from his conversation with Weiss to look to the top of the nearby hill.

"Is something wrong?" Weiss asked.

"I thought I heard something...but then again," V thought aloud.

"Anyway, where did you learn to play violin?"

"Well, my father wanted me to be a well-rounded individual," V returned to the conversation at hand, "He taught me a lot of things, from—"

Suddenly, a loud roar tore through the forest, interrupting him and making the other teens glance around in concern.

_Well that's not foreboding at all._

"Did you guys hear that?" Ruby stood up as she set her jar of sap down. The teams turned toward the sound to find Cardin's friends running towards them.

"Ursa! Ursa!" the one with the green mohawk shouted. He wasn't paying attention to where he was going and suddenly collided with Yang.

"What? Where?" the blonde brawler interrogated the teen, picking him up by the front of his shirt.

"Back there!" Russel panted, "It's got Cardin!"

"Jaune!" Pyrrha exclaimed in concern for her leader as V took off in a sprint towards the direction the member of CRDL indicated.

"Yang! Blake! Go and get Professor Goodwitch!" Ruby instructed her teammates. Yang dropped Russel as she followed her sister's command with Blake.

Pyrrha pointed to Nora and Ren, "Go with them! There could be more!"

The remaining teens followed V as he weaved between trees before they came to a stop at a clearing. An Ursa Major was prowling toward a fallen Cardin who was crawling away in fear.

As the Ursa swung its claws in a downward strike, Jaune leapt in its path and blocked it with his shield. The Ursa continued to push down, causing Jaune to buckle a little under the force. Weiss raised her rapier in response as she prepared to help.

"Wait," V lowered her weapon with his cane as the group observed the fight unfolding. Jaune dropped his shield and moved to the side, slashing at the Grimm's stomach. It recoiled in surprise before recovered and swiped at the blonde knight, but the strike was avoided by the teen deftly rolling to the side. He dodged a second swipe at his feet from the beast soon after.

Unfortunately, Jaune was caught off guard by a third swipe that knocked him backwards. He didn't stay down; instead, he charged towards the Grimm. However, Jaune failed to account for another attack by the Ursa towards him from the side as he attacked.

Before the blow could connect, Pyrrha raised her arm with a dark red colored aura eminating from it. Jaune's shield glowed the same color as it raised to block the strike, opening up an opportunity for the blonde knight to cleave the Ursa's head clean off.

As Pyrrha lowered her hand, Ruby commented, "What?"

"Well, Weiss has her Glyphs and you have your speed. My semblance is polarity," Pyrrha explained.

"Whoa...you can control poles!" Ruby said in astonishment.

V chuckled at Ruby's foolishness, responding, "I believe she means magnetism, Ruby, not the control of actual poles."

"Magnets are cool too," she replied. However, rather than approach Jaune, Pyrrha began to head back in the direction they came from.

"Wait, where are you going?" Weiss asked her.

"Yeah, we should go tell Jaune what happened!" Ruby agreed.

"We could...or perhaps we could keep it our own little secret," she smiled at the two.

V looked back towards Jaune and Cardin as the former helped his tormentor off the ground and seemed to be giving him a warning. V smiled at his friend's newfound confidence before walking away, following Weiss and Ruby.


	7. Chapter 7: The Stray

**Excerpt from "Legends and Myths of Remnant," Chapter 4: The Legendary Dark Knight**

_The Legendary Dark Knight, Sparda, is one of humanity's oldest heroes. While humans still struggled against the creatures of Grimm, Sparda was a beacon in the dark. With his powers, he protected humanity from those that would see them destroyed._

_No one knows where Sparda came from or how he got his powers, but there is little doubt that his assistance helped allow humanity to grow and develop. He helped humanity discover the uses of Aura and Dust, and he essentially helped found modern society._

_However, after years and years of lending his aid to humans, The Legendary Dark Knight suddenly vanished without a trace, never to be seen again._

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

It was a normal morning at Beacon Academy. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and the morning news was still reporting on Dust robberies and the White Fang.

It was completely normal.

_Completely normal indeed._

"I AM GOING TO KILL YOU YANG!" Blake screamed down the hallway towards the blonde girl who was sprinting away with a victorious grin on her face.

"You'll never take me alive!" she taunted, managing to stay far ahead of her enraged teammate.

"That's the point!"

Yang continued to laugh. What she had just pulled off was unbelievably hilarious.

Yang dove behind a large tree in the first courtyard she ran into, looking back to find Blake run out and double over, gasping for air as she looked down the multiple hallways connecting to the area, looking for any sign of the troublesome blonde.

Yang pressed her back against the tree and snickered.

_This is the greatest thing I've ever done_, she took out her scroll in her left hand to admire her handiwork. However, her celebration was short lived as she heard a growl to her right. She looked down to find the pitch black form of Shadow glaring up at her with his red eyes with Blake behind him pointing Gambol Shroud at her.

"Alright Yang. Let's head back to the room so you can explain to us why you did that _and_ so I can explain to Ruby that I actually don't plan to murder you in your sleep."

Yang simply gave a sheepish grin before walking back to the dorm with Shadow and Blake behind her, boring holes into her back with their glares.

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

(A few minutes earlier)

The sun was barely up. Blake was sound asleep in her bed, laying on her side.

All of a sudden, she felt a light tickling on her shoulder. She waved it off with her hand as she tried to sleep.

A moment later, it happened again. She groaned as she turned over. As she began to rest again, she felt something pressed on her forehead. Blake finally opened her eyes to see what it was.

_V._

She smiled before closing her eyes again, wrapping her arms around the tattooed teen.

_Wait a minute!_

Her eyes shot open in realization of the situation she was in. She stared in horror at the face of V, only inches from her own.

_**V?!?!!**_

What made matters worse was the fact that _she_ was pressed against **him** and it was _her_ arms around **him**. Even worse was the fact that her slight panicking was causing the boy to stir in his sleep as he awoke.

V opened his eyes to find a pair of amber orbs staring back.

_Please let this just be one of those dreams_! She thought as she pinched her arm, watching as those dark green eyes gave off a confused expression.

This wasn't a dream. This was very, _very_ real.

The two lay in an awkward silence for a few moments before V whispered, "Well, I didn't realize you were his interested in me Blake."

"What? No I'm not! What are you doing in my bed?" Blake whisper-yelled.

"What do you mean? This is my bed!" V insisted as Blake sat up.

Upon glancing around, Blake realized she was indeed in V's bed, separated from the others and without one above it.

"How did you get in here anyway?" V asked as he sat up, looking at his surprised bedmate. Rather than a response, he found her staring very angrily across the room. He followed her gaze before giving a slight frown.

On her bunk bed sat Yang, Scroll in one hand and white feather in the other (which Blake assumes was what tickled her) as she looked at her two roommates. They watched as she held a hand to her mouth as a smile formed until eventually she could contain herself no longer.

"AHAHAHAHAHA...pfft-HAHAHAHAHA!" she laughed maniacally, clutching her sides as she fell sideways, "The look on your faces! It's priceless!"

Blake got up and threw on a simple outfit quickly before storming out the door. V just slipped out of his bed and changed into his usual clothing and strapped on his sandals, seeing no point in continuing to sleep.

Yang sighed contently at her plan as she looked at her Scroll. She opened up the picture she took: Blake sound asleep as she held on to V.

It's almost like they were a couple or something! Yang squealed internally.

Her jubilation was short lived. Yang froze as she looked to the door, finding Blake holding Gambol Shroud with her combat clothes on.

"Yang, I will give you one chance to delete that picture and explain yourself," Blake said in a low voice.

"Now, now, Blake, perhaps we can settle this peacefully," V reasoned.

"Hmmm...NOPE!" Yang leapt off the bed and pushed Blake aside, sprinting down the hall.

"Yang, I swear I will murder you in your sleep!" Blake yelled after her traitorous teammate as she pursued the runaway.

"BLAKE, NO!" Ruby shouted after the girl, suddenly woken by the commotion.

"What is going on? Can't you dunces see I'm trying to sleep?" Weiss complained.

"I'm sure we'll find out, but I'm to tired to pursue them," V chuckled, summoning Shadow to his side, "Bring Yang back. Alive."

The panther bolted off after the two at top speed as V simply opened his book.

"'You never know what is enough until you learn what is more than enough,'" he quoted, "I believe Yang might learn that the hard way."

"What's going on over here?" Ren suddenly peaked through the open door, likely awoken by the commotion as well.

"Just your average day," Weiss groaned as she flopped back on her bed.

"Hmm..." Ren hummed suspiciously as he slowly backed away from the door and closed it.

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

(Present)

"For the last time Ruby, I'm not actually going to kill your sister," Blake explained.

"I know...but still..." Ruby's voice faltered a little.

V and Blake sighed at her excessive concern.

"So let me get this straight: you woke up early." V began, turning to Yang as she sat in a chair in the middle of the room, surrounded by her teammates.

"Yep," replied Yang.

"You took Blake and placed her in my bed."

"Yup!" Yang popped the "p."

"And all this was just to see her reaction?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"But why?"

"Because you're both such little nerds and I thought you'd look cute in bed together. And I'm right!" Yang suddenly whipped out her Scroll with the picture of V and Blake sleeping pulled up. Blake's face immediately turned red while V closed his eyes and groaned in annoyance.

"Oh my gosh Blake! You look so cuuuute!" Ruby squealed as she looked at the photo of Blake wrapped around V.

"And V is so...V," Weiss responded, looking over her leader's shoulder at the picture.

"I believe it would be best for all parties involved if you deleted that now," V said.

"~What's the magic word?~" Yang said in a sing-song voice.

"Please..." Blake mumbled.

"Please what?"

"Yang, if you don't delete that photo now I will order Shadow to bite off your arm," V threatened as the mentioned panther growled a little from right next to her.

"Okay! Okay. Killjoys..." Yang muttered as she deleted the picture.

"Aww..." Ruby groaned as the adorable picture was completely wiped from existence.

"Now then, let's get dressed. We have a big day ahead of us!" Weiss said optimistically despite the morning's events.

"That's right! We're going to town today!" Ruby jumped up enthusiastically.

"I'll be waiting outside," V simply muttered as Shadow dissipated.

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

Team RWBY and V walked down the streets of Vale, taking in the new an unusual sights. Multicolored streamers and decorations hung in the streets. A banner was also raised across a nearby street between two buildings, reading "Welcome to Vale!"

"The Vytal Festival! Oh, this is absolutely wonderful!" Weiss exclaimed.

"I don't think I've ever seen you smile this much, Weiss," Ruby joked, "It's kinda weirding me out..."

"How could you not smile?" Weiss turned to her partner, "A festival dedicated to the cultures of the world! There will be dances! Parades! A tournament!"

"Perhaps some poetry?" V added.

"The amount of planning and organization that goes into this event is simply breathtaking!" Weiss sighed.

"You really know how to take a good thing and make it sound boring," Yang commented as the five of them continued to walk down the streets.

"Quiet, you!" Weiss snapped at her. The group came to a stop at a fence overlooking the ocean.

"Remind me again why we're spending our Friday afternoon visiting the stupid docks?" Yang complained.

Ruby pinched her nose, "Ugh, they smell like fish!"

"I wonder why?" V remarked.

"I've heard that students visiting from Vacuo will be arriving by ship today," Weiss explained as they began to walk again, "And, as a representative of Beacon, I feel as though it is my solemn duty to welcome them to this fine kingdom!"

"She wants to spy on them so she'll have the upper hand in the tournament," Blake said to V, causing him to chuckle.

"You can't prove that!" the heiress huffed indignantly, stopping the group.

"Whoa. What happened here?" Ruby looked to the right. Down the street, a shop was covered in yellow police tape with a few officers surrounding the store.

"Robbery. Second Dust shop to be hit this week. This place is turning into a jungle," a detective on the scene scratched notes on a pad, turning to his partner

"That's terrible," Yang sighed.

"They left all the money again," a second detective said.

"Yeah, just doesn't make a lick of sense. Who needs that much Dust?" the first asked.

"I don't know, an army?"

"You thinking the White Fang?"

"Yeah, I'm thinking we don't get paid enough," the second detective joked.

"Hmph! The White Fang. What an awful bunch of degenerates!" Weiss turned her nose up at the mention of the Faunus group.

"What's your problem?" Blake demanded.

"My problem?" the heiress asked rhetorically, "I simply don't care for the criminally insane."

"The White Fang is hardly a bunch of psychopaths. They're a collection of misguided Faunus."

"Misguided? They want to wipe Humanity off the face of the planet!"

"So then they're very misguided. Either way, it doesn't explain why they would rob a Dust shop in the middle of downtown Vale!"

"That criminal Roman Torchwick also hasn't been apprehended. It might have been him," V added. Blake gave him a grateful glance for his support.

"That still doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are a bunch of scum," Weiss stated, much to Blake's anger, "Those Faunus only know how to lie, cheat, and steal."

"'The one who never alters their opinion is like standing water, and bre—'" V began quoting before he was cut off by a man shouting, "Hey, stop that Faunus!"

The team rushed to the shouts and found a Faunus with a golden monkey tail running down he deck of a ship, pursued by two sailors

The Faunus looked back at his pursueera with a smile, "Thanks for the ride, guys! Haha!"

"You no-good stowaway!" one of the sailors cursed the teen as he jumped off the boat.

The Faunus remained good spirited as he ate a banana while hanging from a light post "Hey! A no-good stowaway would've been caught! I'm a great stowaway!"

"Hey! Get down from there this instant!" one of the detectives from the crime scene threw a stone at him to get his attention.

The teen simply dropped the banana peel on the detective's face, who growled in return. The monkey-like Faunus twirled up to crouch on the lamppost, laughed in amusement, and leapt off to run away from the detectives.

As he passed Team RWBY, he winked at Blake, causing V to unconsciously grip his cane a little tighter before the Faunus continued down the street, fleeing from his pursuers.

"Well, Weiss, you wanted to see the competition, and there it goes..." Yang looked at the figure running down another street.

Weiss held up a finger, exclaiming, "Quick! We have to observe him!"

Weiss, Yang, V, and Ruby gave chase. Blake stood still, lost in thought, then came back to reality and follows her friends. The team rounded the street corner the Faunus turned at. As they did, Weiss crashed into a previously unseen individual. The others skidded to a halt behind her and looked forward at the retreating Faunus. Unfortunately, he had already escaped up a building.

"No, he got away!" Weiss groaned in frustration.

"Uhh... Weiss?" Yang pointed underneath her teammate.

Weiss finally saw that she fell on a smiling girl dressed in a grey and beige outfit with some green decorations. The realization startled her, and she stood up quickly.

"Sal-u-ta-tions!" the fallen girl greeted the group.

"Um... hello," Ruby responded

"Are you... okay?" Yang apologetically looked at her.

"I'm wonderful! Thank you for asking," the girl grinned cheerfully. The teens glanced at each other with confused expressions and turned back to the girl, still on the ground.

"Are you going to get up?" V asked.

"Yes!" the girl leapt to her feet, startling the group "My name is Penny! It's a pleasure to meet you!"

"Hi Penny. I'm Ruby!"

"I'm Weiss."

"Blake."

"I'm Yang."

"'I have no na—'" V began before he was elbowed hard in the gut by Yang.

"Call me V," he managed to gasp out despite feeling like he had his ribs broken.

"It's a pleasure to meet you!" Penny repeated.

"You already said that," Weiss pointed out.

Penny paused, realizing her mistake, "So I did!"

"Well, sorry for running into you!" Weiss apologized before the team turned to walk away

"Take care, friend!" Ruby waved as they walked past the strange girl.

"She was...weird..." Yang said as soon as they were out of earshot.

"Now, where did that Faunus riff-raff run off to?" Weiss immediately returned to the earlier topic.

Suddenly, Penny appeared in front of Weiss, as if by teleportation, "What did you call me?"

"Oh, I'm really sorry, I definitely didn't think you heard me!" Yang apologized as Weiss looked back and forth between where Penny was and her current position, baffled at the occurrence.

"No, not you," Penny walked through the teens to Ruby "You!"

Ruby, clearly startled, stammered out "Me? I-I don't know. I, what I, um, uh...""

"You called me 'friend'! Am I really your friend?"

"Uuuum..." Ruby looked back at her friends who all shook their heads and showed signs of disapproval.

"Y-Yeah, sure! Why not?" Ruby acquiesced. The remaining members of her team comically fainted as V simply looked down at their fallen figures.

"Sen-sational! We can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys!" Penny exclaimed.

"Oh, is this what it was like when you met me?" Ruby groaned aside it the now recovered Weiss.

"No. She seems far more coordinated."

"So...what are you doing in Vale?" Yang inquired.

"I'm here to fight in the tournament," Penny replied matter-of-factly.

"Wait, you're fighting in the tournament?" Weiss asked incredulously

Penny saluted, stating "I'm combat ready!"

"Forgive me, but you hardly look the part."

"And you wear a dress," V commented

Weiss crosses her arms in offense, shooting back, "It's a combat skirt!

Ruby sped over, high giving Weiss while cheering "Yeah!"

"And heels," V added.

"Wait a minute," Weiss suddenly switched topics and turned to Penny and grabbed her shoulders, "If you're here for the tournament, does that mean you know that monkey-tailed...rapscallion?"

"The who...?" Penny was clearly confused by what was happening.

Weiss suddenly materialized a poorly drawn sketch of the teen they saw earlier, "The filthy Faunus from the boat!"

"Why do you keep saying that?!" Blake demanded.

"Huh?"

"Stop calling him a rapscallion! Stop calling him a degenerate! He's a person!" Blake stepped closer to the

"Oh, I'm sorry," Weiss feigned apology, "Would you like me to stop referring to the trash can as a trash can? Or this lamppost as a lamppost?"

Weiss continued, "He clearly broke the law. Give him time; he'll probably join up with those other Faunus in the White Fang!"

"You ignorant little brat!" Blake shouted.

"How dare you talk to me like that! I am your teammate!"

"You are a judgmental little girl."

"What in the world makes you say that?"

"The mere fact that you would sort that Faunus boy with a terrorist group solely based on his species makes you just as much of a scoundrel as you believe him to be!"

"Can we all just calm down a bit and talk like civilized people?" V attempted to defuse the situation, but the girls began to walk away and continued to argue.

"Does no one listen to me?" V threw his hands in the air in frustration and turned to the sisters of the team.

"I guess not," Yang replied.

"I think we should head back," Ruby nervously said.

"Where are we going?" Penny asked excitedly, oblivious to the high tensions among the group.

"So you admit it! The White Fang is just a radical group of terrorists!" they heard Weiss continue to debate.

"That's not what I meant, and you know it!" Blake retorted as the remaining three team members followed the two girls.

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

Unfortunately for Ruby, Yang, and V, the argument didn't stop, even once they reached their dorm room. V simply reclined in his bed, trying to bury the background noise by reading poetry while petting Shadow next to him. Ruby and Yang has no such items to distract them and we're resigned to glancing nervously at Weiss and Blake as they continued back and forth.

"I don't understand why this is causing such a problem!"

"That is the problem!"

"You realize you are defending an organization that hates Humanity, don't you? The Faunus of the White Fang are pure evil!" Weiss shouted as she got off her bed.

Blake got on her feet as well, claiming "There's no such thing as pure evil! Why do you think they hate Humanity so much? It's because of people like Cardin, people like you, that force the White Fang to take such drastic measures!"

"People like me?"

"You're discriminatory!"

"I'm a victim!" the white haired girl leaned in, leering at the girl opposite her as she continued in a quieter tone, "You want to know why I despise the White Fang? Why I don't particularly trust the Faunus?" Weiss moves to the bookshelf and rested her hands on it, looking out the window as she continued, "It's because they've been at war with my family for years. War, as in actual bloodshed. My grandfather's company has had a target painted across its back for as long as I can remember. And ever since I was a child, I've watched family friends disappear; board members executed; an entire train car full of Dust, stolen. And every day, my father would come home, furious. And that made for a very difficult childhood."

Weiss punctuated her monologue by slamming her fist on the nearby bookshelf, startling Shadow into disappearing and causing V to close his book and glance with a bit of apprehension at the two.

"Weiss, I-" Ruby tried to comfort her partner, only to be shaken off.

"No!" Weiss turned away, "You want to know why I despise the White Fang? It's because they're a bunch of liars, thieves, and murderers!" she stepped closer to Blake with each insult.

_This won't end well_, V remembered Blake's heritage.

"Well maybe we were just tired of being pushed around!" Blake finally shouted.

Silence dropped on the scene. Weiss backed away slowly in surprise as Blake realized her mistake. She looked around at each of her teammates, finally settling on V who gulped with widened eyes.

_This is definitely not good_, V thought. He was aware she was a Faunus.

He was not aware she was a member of the White Fang.

"I...I..." Blake stammered, trying to come up with a response however, nothing came out and she dashed out of the room.

"Blake, wait! Come back!" Ruby ran over to the door, calling out to her teammate. Yang sat down in shock at the revelation while Weiss stared at the ground. V continued to remain on his bed, lost in thought.

Finally, V decided to act. He walked over to the bookshelf and stepped atop it, looking out the open window.

"Where do you think you're going?" Weiss demanded. V looked back with a cold look in his eyes, mildly unsettling her.

"I'm going after our teammate," he deadpanned before stepping out the window and falling.

Weiss immediately shot up and looked out in fear of his safety, but instead she found him being carried away in the talons of Griffon.

"So I guess shit hit the fan, huh?" Griffon commented.

"Just set me down," he commanded the bird. Griffon did as he was told, dropping V from a foot off the ground as he summoned a dark cloud to ride on. V shot through the school grounds as fast as he was able, racing to get to the last late-night airship that was sure to depart in a moment. Within moments, he could see Blake and the monkey Faunus from earlier boarding the ship.

"Blake!" V called out to the girl. She turned back to the summoner, and in fear she continued to flee, followed by the other Faunus as well.

"Blake, wait!" he called out again, but the airship was taking offs she got nearer. It had already pulled away several meters as he approached the edge. However, V was not deterred. Instead, with a powerful leap, he jumped toward the aircraft and summoned Griffon who picked him up and deposited him on the deck near the two runaways. They looked at him in shock.

V held his hands up as a sign of peace to try and assuage any fears the two may have had.

"I'm not here to hurt you."

"Why do you still trust me?" Blake asked, surprised at V's persistence despite the recent revelation of her previous allegiances.

"For one thing, I know better than to ignore the possibility that there are two sides to every story. For another, I wasn't about to let you run off with some random guy you just met," he explained nodding to their new companion.

"Name's Sun, by the way," the monkey Faunus introduced himself, extending a hand.

"V. Pleasure," the tattooed teen responded without shaking it, "Now then, I hope that we can all get to know each other, but I think we should all take some time to collect ourselves after this night's events."

The others nodded in agreement as they all sat back, remaining in silence for the remainder of the trip.

No one noticed as three silhouettes slunk off the ship after it landed, disappearing into the night.


	8. Chapter 8: Nightmare

V tapped the side of his coffee cup with one finger as he sat down at one end of a cafe table. Blake sat on the left side from him, sipping from a cup of tea while Sun was at his right, using his tail to sip his own tea.

"So you want to know more about me..." Blake finally broke the silence that had permeated since almost two days ago.

"Finally! She speaks!" Sun exclaimed in jubilation, "Two days and nothing but silence and cold looks. From both of you!"

V and Blake leveled their own glares at the rascal.

"See? Like that!"

V sighed as he took a sip of his coffee while Blake simply rolled her eyes.

"Sun, are you familiar with the White Fang?" Blake began.

"Of course! I don't think there's a Faunus on the planet who hasn't heard of them. Stupid, holier-than-thou creeps that use force to get whatever they want. Bunch of freaks, if you ask me!" Sun said while V remained quiet.

"I was once a member of the White Fang," Blake said.

Sun nearly choked on his tea and spit it out onto the table, "Wait, what?"

"That's right. I was a member for most of my life, actually. You could almost say I was born into it..." Blake explained.

"Back then, things were different. In the ashes of war, the White Fang was meant to be a symbol of peace and unity between Humans and the Faunus.

"Of course, despite being promised equality, the Faunus were subjected to discrimination and hate. Humanity still thought of us as lesser beings. And so, the White Fang rose up as a voice of our people. And I was there."

"I was at the front of every rally. I took part in every boycott. I actually thought we were making a difference. But I was just a youthful optimist.

"Then, five years ago, our leader stepped down, and a new one took his place. A new leader, with a new way of thinking.

"Suddenly, our peaceful protests were being replaced with organized attacks. We were setting fire to shops that refused to serve us, hijacking cargo from companies that used Faunus labor. And the worst part was, it was working. We were being treated like equals. But not out of respect... out of fear."

Blake put down her tea cup, leaving Sun in stunned silence while V had a contemplative look on his face, "So, I left. I decided I no longer wanted to use my skills to aid in their violence, and instead, I would dedicate my life to becoming a Huntress. So here I am: a criminal hiding in plain view, all with the help of a little black bow," she emphasized the last part with a wiggle of her ears under her bow.

Sun paused for a moment before saying, "So...have you told your friends any of this?"

"Just me so far," V filled in Blake's stead, noticing her discomfort at the question.

"Oooh...So that's why you're on the run," Sun realized. Blake continued to look downtrodden.

"Maybe we should go for a walk and decide what to do next," V said as he stood up from his chair and held out his hand to help Blake do the same.

"Sounds as good an idea as any," Sun followed suit as the trio exited the cafe.

The three of them turned down a side alley soon after beginning their walk. Sun strolled casually with his hands behind his head, V was examining a dark mass on his palm, and Blake just walked normally.

"So what's the plan now?" Sun asked as he looked around.

Blake contemplated for a moment before replying, "I still don't believe the White Fang is behind these robberies. They've never needed that much Dust before."

Sun's eyes widened in realization, "What if they did?" he lowered his arms as they stopped and began pacing in front of his two companions, "I mean... the only way to prove that they didn't do it, is to go to the place where they would most likely go to if they were to do it, and not find them there! Right?"

"Great idea, but where would that place be?" V commented.

"Well, while I was on the ship, I heard some guys talking about offloading a huge shipment of Dust coming in from Atlas."

"How huge?" Blake asked

"Huge. Big Schnee Company freighter," he motioned with his hands to indicate the enormity of the shipment in question.

"You're sure?"

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

"Well this is boring," Sun said, laying on his back with his hands behind his head. Blake was watching the docks intensively to watch for any sign of the White Fang while V was sitting cross-legged and reading.

"Patience yields great dividends, Sun," V flipped through the pages of the poetry collection in his hands.

"Right, right," Sun stood up, "I'm going to go and get some food; I'm starving. Don't worry, I'll be right back!"

When Sun left the group, V closed his book and moved to sit next to Blake.

"You're worried," V started.

"Why shouldn't I be?"

"I didn't say you shouldn't be. I was just starting conversation."

A small silence settled between them.

"What did you mean back in the library?"

"Hm?"

"One of the last things you said was I looked better without my bow on. Did you..really mean it?" Blake asked with some color on her cheeks.

V smirked before quoting, "'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?'"

Blake gave him a light snack on the arm for the comment, causing him to chuckle at her embarrassment. However, the two were interrupted when Sun came back and sat on the other side of Blake.

"So lovebirds, anything happen yet?"

"We're not—" Blake protested. V cut in with, "The shipment's been unloaded, but nothing exciting's happening yet."

"Cool, cool. I stole you guys some food!" the monkey boy cheerfully commented, offering an apple to each of them.

"No thank you," V politely declined.

"Do you always break the law without giving a second thought?" Blake scolded.

"Hey, weren't you in a cult or something?" Sun countered, much to Blake's anger, "Okay, too soon!"

The trio was interrupted by a Bullhead's engines as one of the craft in question shone spotlights on the ground. Soon after, it flew past the teens' stakeout area and landed between some shipping containers. As soon as the ramp was lowered, an individual in a metal fanged mask exited the ship.

"Oh no," Blake whispered.

V looked closer at the individuals leaving the bulkhead and found they all had a read symbol on their backs: a wolf with three claw marks on it.

"Is that them?"

"Yes...it's them," Blake murmured as one of the members began shouting orders to the others.

"I suppose you didn't think they'd do this," V said.

Blake looked at the scene sadly, admitting, "No. I think deep down I knew. I just didn't want to be right."

Blake closed her eyes. V looked closer at the group with a frown, noticing a distinct man with a bowler hat, a cane, and a long white jacket.

"Hey! What's the holdup!?" Roman Torchwick shouted, wildly gesturing with his arms as he strutted down the ramp, "We're not exactly the most inconspicuous bunch of thieves at the moment, so why don't you animals try to pick up the pace?"

"Why are the White Fang working with a human?" V wondered aloud. Blake said nothing; she unsheathed Gambol Shroud before walking off the edge of the place they sat and landing at the docks.

Sun shouted after her, "Hey, what are you doing?!"

"I find it best not to ask," a new voice added. Sun looked to his left to find Griffon perched on V's shoulder.

"So...talking bird..."

"What? You got a problem with that, monkey boy?"

"I bet you taste like chicken."

V sighed at the two's back and forth insults as he stepped off after Blake, Griffon carrying him safely to the ground. He looked around the corner of a Dust shipping container to find the criminal pacing impatiently and ordering around the Faunus he was with.

"No, you idiot! This isn't a leash!" he was interrupted by Blake sneaking up behind him and putting her sword to his throat, "What the-Oh, for f—"

Blake cut him off, shouting, "Nobody move!"

The White Fang soldiers readied their guns and equip their swords in response.

_Excellent plan Blake..._

"Whoa! Take it easy there, little lady."

As the White Fang closed in on her, Blake used her free hand to remove her bow, revealing her Faunus traits to them.

"Brothers of the White Fang! Why are you aiding this scum?" Blake demanded

The White Fang members lowered their weapons a little at this development, unsure of what to do. Roman, however, simply laughed.

"Oh, kid, didn't you get the memo?"

"What are you talking about?" Blake demanded, her blade pressing a little further in his throat.

"The White Fang and I are going in on a joint business venture together!" Torchwick explained.

"Tell me what it is or I'll put an end to your little operation."

Suddenly, the air was filled with the sound of engines. V looked up to find three Bullheads hovering above the scene

"I wouldn't exactly call it a little operation..."

Blake looked up in horror, and Roman capitalized on her distraction by firing a shot from his cane at her feet.

Blake, dazed but relatively unhurt, quickly rolled and ran out of the way of Roman's continued attacks, flaming missiles destroying cargo behind her as she tried to retreat behind more containers.

V suddenly felt cold metal press against his back as a voice said, "Hands where I can see them!"

V put his hands up as he turned to face the White Fang grunts behind him, counting five in total.

_Easy enough_, he smirked. Shadow appeared leapt forward with Griffon shouting, "Fuck yeah!" as they tore into them. Griffon shocked two of them near to death with a line of lightning strikes while Shadow swept another two to the side of a shipping container, knocking them out instantly. The remaining one tried to fire their weapon only to find it was soon destroyed by a shadow spike. His hands immediately shot up.

"Honestly, I hate working for these guys, they are so weird," he dropped the remains of his gun. V simply gave a small smile and waved him away, prompting the grunt to run behind a shipping container.

"Aww, you're not letting me have any fun," Griffon moaned.

"Relax, I'm sure there are plenty more for you to have all the fun you want with."

V headed back to the area where Blake was before to find Sun fighting off multiple White Fang goons. After pointing forward, Shadow and Griffon charged in to assist while V simply walked around the outside, far away from the combat.

"IT'S BARBECUE TIME!" Griffon cackled with glee as he continued to blast White Fang members with lightning, often times taking hem out instantly; Shadow growled as it leapt about, stabbing some enemies with spikes while slashing up others. Sun simply beat down anyone coming near him with his staff, though mildly shocked by the familiars.

"He's mine!" V heard Blake shout as she charged Roman, who was lining up a shot on him.

Blake got in close and quickly became a blur of afterimages. She slashed rapidly with both blades at Roman, who backed away and deflected each would-be blow with his cane at unbelievable speeds. Blake continued to try to dodge around and find a weak point, but she was unable to and was knocked away by a few strong strikes from him.

Just as Roman dealt with Blake, Sun leapt right in front of the criminal and disconnected his staff into two spinning circles of flame-firing shotgun nunchucks. Sun swung each gun at Roman while firing everything he had at him, but even with the rapid series of shots and flying bullets, Roman managed to defend himself against every bullet and hit until a millisecond-long pause allowed Blake to get a slash in and knock him back.

V's familiars finished with most of the grunts as he continued to watch the battlefield. Suddenly, more engines were heard as five more Bullheads approached V's location. However, Griffon and Shadow were a bit preoccupied with the White Fang to deal with the new threat.

"Well, it seems I might have to be a little more...serious," V mused.

Some of the White Fang members near him glanced around in confusion. V said nothing.

He simply raised his left arm and snapped his fingers.

**"Eradicate them all."**

As soon as the loud snap of V's fingers echoed through the air, the black color of his hair disappeared, revealing it to be a stark white. Soon after, an object akin to a meteor fell from the sky, and crashed into the area in front of him, sending White Fang members and debris flying everywhere. Out of the crater, a gargantuan, pitch black golem emerged. It's body seemed to be made of demonic fluid, and it had a large, glowing orb for an eye where a person's neck would be.

"Show then your worst, Nightmare," V commanded, and the golem obeyed.

As the White Fang recovered, Nightmare slammed its fists into them, continuing to knock them about as Griffon and Shadow continued on the offensive and Sun and Blake dueled Torchwick.

The bullheads landed and let out many White Fang fighters, some with large weapons like rocket launchers. However, their charge was interrupted by a large lightning bolt.

"HAHAHAHAHA! FUCK YEAH!" Griffon cheered as he strafed the White Fang members coming out of the Bullheads with lightning. Nightmare lumbered over and joined in pummeling the reinforcements. Shadow, now finished fighting White Fang fighters nearby, simply purred and walked around in a circle before laying down, seemingly falling asleep.

V sighed, quoting with mild sarcasm, "'Tyger Tyger, burning bright, In the forests of the night; What immortal hand or eye, Could frame thy fearful symmetry?'"

V's lamentations on his cat were halted by the roar of four more Bullheads overhead. V groaned at the new annoyances as he ran to Nightmare and jumped on his back, stabbing his cane into the giant's shoulder.

V pointed at the aircraft, and soon after, Nightmare charged up and fired a large purple laser beam at the Bullheads, slicing them all in half.

"Hell yeah! That was awesome!" Griffon whipped as he landed on V's shoulder after he jumped off Nightmare. The golem melted back into shadows and the black coloration of V's hair returned. He turned back to try in find Torchwick, only to see he had vanished.

_He's a slippery one..._

He looked at Sun and Blake. Sun stood with his mouth agape while Blake was wide eyed at the display. V simply smirked back

"THAT WAS TOTALLY AWESOME!" someone shouted at the top of their lungs. The three teens turned up to the top of the dock to see Ruby Rose throwing her hands in the air from the cheer before taking them back down and smiling sheepishly.

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

Later, a handful of police cars arrived at the docks, where Ruby, Blake, Sun, and V sat on boxes in silence. That is, until Weiss and Yang appeared on the scene.

Ruby noticed heir approach and got up, explaining, "Look Weiss, it's not what you think, she explained the whole thing. See, she doesn't actually have a bow, she has kitty ears and they're actually kind of cute..."

However, Weiss ignored the red cloaked girl and immediately walked towards Blake

"Weiss," Blake started, "I want you to know that I'm no longer associated with the White Fang. Back when I was with the-"

"Stop!" Weiss cut her off, "Do you have any idea of how long we've been searching for you?Twelve hours. That means I've had twelve hours to think about this. And in that twelve hours, I've decided..."

The other members of RWBY, plus Sun looked on, worried at what she would say next.

"I don't care," Weiss simply stated.

"You don't care?" Blake was surprised at the simple apology.

"You said you're not one of them anymore, right?"

"No, I-I haven't been since I was younger-"

"Ah-bah-bah-bah-bah!" the heiress interrupted once more, "I don't want to hear it. All I want to know is that the next time something this big comes up...you'll come to your teammates. And not some..." she looked at Sun, "Someone else."

"Of course."

Weiss smiled and nodded in acceptance of the reply. The moment was serious and silent for a second more until Ruby screamed, "Yeah! Team RWBY is back together!"

"Also, since when did you have white hair?" Ruby pointed at V. The others also glance at him for an answer.

"Since birth. My...semblance changes it to be black," V explained.

"Oh. I think you're so much cooler with white hair, though," Ruby commented.

"Why, because it looks like your old friend?~" Yang joked.

"Ah! Yang, don't share embarrassing stories with everyone!" Ruby immediately freaked out.

"Come on Rubes, everyone knew you and him were meant to be!" Yang teased before starting to sing, "~Ruby and Ne—"

"STOP IT!" Ruby began lightly punching Yang in the arm repeatedly much to everyone's amusement and laughter.

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

In Argus, a man sat behind a desk. He had an old fashioned phone on the surface near him. Opposite the phone was a box of pizza, with a single slice in the man's hand.

He had white hair and wore a faded red jacket with a skull on the back and the sleeves rolled up. Underneath, he wore an ordinary black henley T-shirt with three buttons that had sleeves reaching just past his elbows. For his legs, he wore a pair of black jeans, a black belt with gold accents, and brown boots. On his wrists were a pair of black driving gloves and white bandages.

As he was about to begin eating the pizza slice in his hand, the phone next to him began to ring. The man groaned as he set the slice of pizza down on a paper plate in front of him as he picked up the phone.

"Devil May Cry?" he greeted with a grin. He nodded, going "Mhm" in understanding at the questions on the other end. Eventually, he hung up and got up, grabbing a sword that lay on the wall behind him and his slice of pizza as he kicked his chair under the desk.

"Dante, who was that?" a voice called from upstairs.

"Oz called, Will. He just needs me this time, so hold down the fort and keep the bills paid until I get back so Morrison can stay off my case," Dante shouted up the steps to his flat mate.

Dante walked out the door with a smirk on his face, "This'll be fun."

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

Well, for those of you who made it to the end, congratulations! And thank you for sticking with me through the first fanfiction I've ever written so a few closing things to note:

1\. There is a sequel to this story in development which will be coming out eventually. I will be adding some new DMC characters with it.

2\. The sequel might not be the next book I do as I'm interested in some other projects. I'll release whatever I end up making and bouncing between them.

3\. Bit of self criticism thing: I understand I probably fucked up quite a lot of stuff in the novel. I apologize for any OOC moments, plot holes and inconsistencies, or general shitty writing you may have encountered. Also, I definitely under-utilized V's familiars outside of combat. Hopefully such issues will be resolved in future installments.

That's all I can think to list here at the end. Once again, thank you all so much for reading and for your support, and have a good day!


	9. Sequel’s Up

Sequel's up. Go check it out.


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